Dragon Quest IX
by WaterJinx
Summary: This story follows the plot of the game Dragon Quest IX Sentinels of the Starry Skies with various misadventures thrown in. If you enjoyed the game, then I hope you enjoy this story.  It will contain spoilers, so please beware.
1. Chapter 1

Mentor and pupil stood at the entrance to the small village of Angel Falls. The pupil flapped her wings, using the generated breeze to cool herself off in the summer heat.

"Adelle, we Celestrians are to protect and help the mortals." The mentor said as he gestured to an old man and a young woman walking along the road toward the village.

"Grandpa, please hurry. It's getting late." The girl urged.

"I'm sorry, Erinn... My age makes traveling difficult... Go on without me. It'll be dark soon and the monsters have been acting up lately..." Her grandfather replied, nudging her ahead of him.

Erinn smiled at him, "Don't worry, Grandpa! Adelle, the village guardian shall protect us from the monsters."

The pupil shook her head. "I'm not the guardian yet, though..." She then looked to her mentor. "I'm still in training. Master Aquila, you are still the true guardian of Angel Falls."

Aquila pointed to two monsters lurking behind a boulder near the path. They were cruelcumbers, basically giant walking cucumbers with spears.

"You will soon be the village's guardian, so you must defend the inhabitants from attack." Aquila said. "Shall we deal with the pests?"

Adelle nods and draws her sword before following Aquila to the cruelcumbers' hiding spot. The cruelcumbers turned to see Adelle and Aquila. Aquila slew one of the cruelcumbers with a single slash of the sword. Adelle being far less experienced at combat only injured the cruelcumber. The cruelcumber retaliated. It lunged toward Adelle with its spear. There was a crack as Aquila broke the spear in half before it could hit Adelle. Adelle used the opportunity to stab the cruelcumber.

Aquila smiled and gave her a congratulatory slap on the back. "Not too bad for your first battle."

"YES! WE DID IT! MY FIRST VICTORY!" Adelle exclaimed as she did a victory dance.

Aquila laughed, "You did well... But I think you should stay away from sugar for a while..."

Adelle quickly ceased her dance and turned a light shade of red. "Um... Yeah... sorry... I got a little excited..."

"Excited already? You haven't even gotten the fruits of your labor yet." Aquila chuckled.

Aquila returned Adelle's attention to the civilians they saved. Erinn and her grandfather had safely reached the village.

"We made it back... I was worried that these old bones would never see our home again..." The old man said with a relieved sigh.

"Grandpa! Adelle would never let anything happen to us. We didn't see any monsters because she kept them away." Erinn chided.

"Of course... How silly of me…" Her grandfather said with a smile.

Erinn turned toward the path and bowed. "Thank you for watching over us, Adelle. We owe you a great deal."

A blue flame appeared in front of Erinn as she spoke, but she didn't notice. She returned to her house with her grandfather. Aquila took the flame and handed it to Adelle. Although it appeared as a flame, it was cool to the touch.

"This is known as benevolessence." Aquila explained. "It is the physical form of the gratitude mortals feel towards us Celestrians."

Adelle stared in awe at the flame in her hands. "It's so pretty... What do we do with it?"

'We give it to Apus Major in the Observatory. It is our job to harvest as much benevolessence as possible. I shall explain more once we return to the Observatory." Aquila said.

The two walked down the streets of the village as the sun set. Aquila came to a sudden stop, causing Adelle to bump into him. "There's one more lesson I have to teach you." He said.

"What's that?" Adelle asked, tilting her head.

"Aside from animals, monsters, and certain humans, we can be seen by souls of the departed. It is part of our job to help these lost souls move on to the next world." He explained.

"...Okay... How do we do that?" she asked.

Aquila stepped to one side, revealing a transparent man wandering the streets. They approached the ghost.

"Hello. What are you doing out here?" Aquila asked.

"Oi! Ye be the first to speak to me in a week! Why be it that all me old mates won't acknowledge me?" The ghost exclaimed. "C'mon... Ye will tell me the truth, won't ye?"

"...They can't see you... You're... dead." Adelle said as gently as she could.

The ghost paused for a moment. "…So I kicked the bucket...?"

Adelle nodded solemnly. "I'm afraid so..."

The ghost gave a relieved sigh and then grinned. "That's great! So me mates aren't ignoring me! Now I can move on! Thank ye very much!"

With that, a bright light surrounded the ghost and he disappeared, leaving behind benevolessence.

"Um... That was easy..." Adelle said, collecting the benevolessence.

Aquila rubbed the back of his neck. "It normally takes a lot more work than that..."

Adelle and Aquila continued their walk to the giant waterfall near the center of the village. They walked to a statue atop a hill overlooking the village. The statue had the words "Adelle - Guardian of Angel Falls" written at the base, even though the statue looked nothing like her. Aquila turned to Adelle and smiled.

"You have completed your lessons well... Tomorrow you will return to Angel Falls as the official guardian." He said.

'What? All ready? What about you?" Adelle asked, stunned by the announcement.

Aquila laughed at her expression. "I get promoted. I will roam the land protecting all the regions, not just Angel Falls. Besides, you're ready to carry out the tasks of guardian on your own."

A huge grin spread across Adelle's face and she tackle hugged Aquila. "Thank you! This is great!" She began pacing excitedly. "I completed my training! I can't believe it! This is AWESOME!"

"...I suppose your title is now Guardian Adelle..." Aquila said, "But... I feel rather close to you… you are more like family than a student... and calling you that is slightly awkward... How about we only call each other by our titles when formality calls for it? Otherwise, it's just Aquila and Adelle."

"Of course, Mas…" She began, but quickly corrected herself. "Aquila."

Aquila laughed. "Good. Not like you had much of a choice, though. It is against our laws for a Celestrian to disobey his or her superior... Well, shall we head back to the Observatory? Apus Major will want that benevolessence you collected."

Adelle nodded and looked towards the sky. A bright light shone upon them and they soared into the night.


	2. Chapter 2

The Observatory was a giant tower floating far above the earth. The Celestrians called this tower home. On the top of the tower grew a large tree, known as Yggdrasil. Adelle and Aquila arrived at the grand entrance to the Observatory, where friends greeted them.

"Adelle, I'm going to speak with Columba for a while. You must give the benevolessence we collected to Apus Major. He will be in the throne room." Aquila said before going deeper into the Observatory.

Adelle nodded and walked off to the throne room where she was stopped by the Celestrian guards.

"Hello Adelle. Did you bring benevolessence for us?" One of the guards asked.

Adelle nodded. "Master Aquila told me to give it to Apus Major."

"Wonderful! ...Oh, but Apus Major wishes to speak with Aquila. Do you mind fetching him?" The guard requested.

Adelle agreed and set off for the library. On her way, she passed some groups of Celestrians chatting. Some elder Celestrians were complaining about how helpless the mortals in the protectorate were, while the younger Celestrians hoped to one day become guardians. When Adelle finally reached the library, she noticed that he was busy. So, she waited patiently a few feet away from Aquila while he spoke with his old friend, Columba. Both Aquila and Columba were highly respected Celestrians and had been friends for centuries. They were known for getting into polite arguments, but they were still very close. Aquila had his back turned to Adelle, and Columba had yet to notice her.

"Yggdrasil will soon bear fruit... It will not be long until we will be able to travel to the realm of the All Mighty." Aquila said with a grin.

"But... Corvus has yet to return... Will we leave without him?" Columba asked quietly.

Aquila's face fell. "We may have to... It has been centuries since he left... Besides, we swore never to speak of him again."

"I'm sorry. I should not have brought him up..." Columba said before clearing her throat. "Well... Today is a day of celebration, is it not? Your student has finally become a full-fledged guardian."

"Yes, but only because Apus Major believes her to be ready. I would much rather train her for at least another year." Aquila said.

Adelle felt her heart sink; he didn't think she was ready? Columba noticed Adelle and tried to inform Aquila, but failed to get a word in edge-wise.

"Actually, a year is probably too soon as well... I should train her much more." Aquila continued.

Finding that words were of no use, Columba grabbed Aquila's shoulders and turned her friend around to face Adelle.

"Adelle! How long have you been standing there?" Aquila exclaimed, a sudden look of guilt spreading across his face.

"Just... a little while..." Adelle said, taking a deep breath. "Apus Major wishes to speak with you. I was sent to fetch you." She then quickly left the room, trying her best to hide her face from view.

"...She looked like she was going to cry..." Columba said.

Aquila ran after Adelle and grabbed her arm.

"Adelle! Wait! I didn't mean that the way it sounded!" Aquila said quickly.

"It's okay... Really... I'm not very strong... And it was too soon..." Adelle replied, her eyes watering.

Aquila hugged Adelle and wrapped his wings around her. "I'm proud of you. You're an excellent student and I couldn't ask for anyone better. All I meant was that I feel there is more I should teach you..."

"Then I shouldn't be a guardian yet..." Adelle said quietly.

He looked sternly into her eyes. "If I didn't believe you could handle the job, I wouldn't let you do it. You will be a wonderful guardian... I only wanted to continue being your teacher."

Adelle blinked and stared at him for a minute, and then smiled. "You will all ways be my teacher..."

"That's a good girl. ...I was going to wait until later, but I have a graduation gift for you." Aquila said, reaching into his pocket. He then placed a pendant around Adelle's neck.

"It's an Elfin charm. ...During your duties as guardian, you will encounter monsters that can poison you, paralyse you, confuse you, and cause many other misfortunes... That charm will protect you from all of those side effects." He explained.

"Thank you! It's beautiful!" Adelle said grinning, already obsessed with charm.

"Now, we mustn't keep Apus Major waiting." Aquila said as he lead her off.

They went to Apus Major in the throne room. He was the eldest Celestrian and served as ruler. He had kind eyes and a long, white beard. Adelle curtsied and Aquila kneeled before him.

"So Adelle is finally a guardian? Splendid!" Apus Major exclaimed, clapping his hands. "Adelle, you should be very proud of yourself. Aquila declined for so long to take an apprentice... I feared he would never take a student... Then he saw the potential in you. That is quite remarkable for one as young as you."

"Thank you, Sir..." Adelle said as she revealed the benevolessence. "We collected this, Sir."

"Wonderful! Adelle, come with us and offer it to Yggdrasil. This will be your first time doing so." Apus Major said.

He then led Adelle and Aquila to the sacred tree, Yggdrasil, atop of the Observatory. The tree was tall and grand, and the blossoms were in full bloom.

"Benevolessence is offered to Yggdrasil... Once Yggdrasil has enough benevolessence, it shall bear fruit." Aquila told Adelle.

"When that happens, according to our forefathers, the Celestrial Carriage shall come to take us Celestrians to the Relm of the All Mighty... We collect benevolessence to bring about the dream of all Celestrians." Apus Major said, continuing Aquila's explanation. "And Yggdrasil shall bear fruit very soon."

"Now, go to the base of Yggdrasil and offer your benevolessence." Aquila said, giving Adelle a light shove towards Yggdrasil.

Adelle kneeled at the base of the tree. She held the benevolessence in front of her and began to pray. The benevolessence floated out of her hands and was absorbed into Yggdrasil. Aquila knelt beside her and offered his prayers.

Adelle stood behind a couple of boys. It was her first day as the official guardian and she did not want them causing mischief.

"Hey... Anyone notice that the name at the bottom of the statue changed?" One of the boys, Hank, asked.

"What are you talking about?" His friend, Ivor, asked.

"See! It used to say 'Aqui-something-or-other'! It only recently changed to 'Adelle', yet everyone acts like it has always said Adelle!" Hank said, pointing to the plaque on the base of statue.

Ivor laughed. "You're daft! And just who changed it? The Celestrians? How can you believe such stupid fairy tales?"

"You shouldn't talk that way about the guardian..." Hank said, trying to shush his friend.

"Oh yeah? Oi! Guardian thingy! You're an ugly old bat! Come and get me if you're real!" Ivor shouted at the statue. He also threw in a few rude gestures for good measure.

"Ivor! Adelle works hard to protect us every day! Show some respect!" Erinn scolded as she walked up to the statue with a traveler beside her.

Ivor quickly turned around, his face growing red. "Oh... Erinn... I didn't see you come up..." He then noticed the girl next to Erinn. "Who are you?"

"This is Caitlin. She's a guest at my Inn." Erinn replied.

"Why's she carrying around that giant stick?" Ivor asked.

"It's a staff… Want me to show you what it does...?" Caitlin growled.

"Ooohh... Is that a threat?" Ivor asked with a smirk.

"What do you think?" Caitlin glared.

"Bring it on, Girly.. I can beat you easy." Ivor sneered.

Adelle sighed. "This is getting out of han-!"

Adelle was cut off as Caitlin swung her staff at Ivor. Adelle jumped onto the staff sending it into the ground and not into Ivor's head.

Caitlin whipped her head around. "What the? Someone's here!"

"Caitlin, let's go... We'll upset Adelle, arguing with Ivor in front of her statue..." Erinn said, lightly tugging on Caitlin's sleeve.

"...I think I'll walk around for a while on my own... Thanks, Erinn." Caitlin replied.

Adelle decided that the situation had been defused, so she started her rounds... And she started them by tripping over Caitlin's dropped Staff.

"Crap! I twisted my ankle!" Adelle groaned. "It's my first day too..."

Adelle had to resort to using her wings for transportation. She spotted the general store owner's dog and petted him. She noticed him sniffing at the ground. Upon closer inspection, she found a gold ring.

"Someone must have lost this... I will have to find out who..." She muttered to herself.

Adelle continued her rounds, eventually stopping by the horse stable. The owner of the stable always made her laugh with his comments to himself. He worked hard every day so that he could buy a horse... And believed that if he could take good care of that horse, then he would be able to get a second... He spent all of his energy into caring for his horse. Adelle found him laying exhausted on a pile of hay.

"I have to clean the stable... Or my old lady will never let me buy another horse... I'm so tired... I'll.. just... close my eyes... for a second.. then.. start..." The man muttered drowsily to himself before falling asleep.

Adelle laughed and got to work cleaning the stable for him. When it was spick and span, the man awoke. He sat up and looked around the stable.

He let out a surprised gasp. "It's clean! This must be Adelle's doing! Thank you Adelle! I swear I will work hard from now on!"

Adelle smiled as she collected the benevolessence that appeared in front of the man. She then checked on the church. An elderly woman was sitting in the pews. Caitlin entered the church and sat down next to her.

"What's wrong? You seem sad." Caitlin asked.

"...I lost my wedding ring... I searched everywhere, but I couldn't find it... I'm going to pray to Guardian Adelle to help me find it... Do you care to join me, sweetie?" The old woman said.

Caitlin nodded and joined the woman in prayer. Adelle slipped the ring into the old woman's pocket.

Caitlin suddenly looked about. "There's that feeling again! Someone's following me!"

"Shhh! This is a house of the All Mighty." The priest hushed.

"Sorry..." Caitlin replied quietly.

"...My pocket... it feels heavier..." The old woman said, reaching into her pocket and removing the contents. "My ring! It wasn't there before! Oh, surely this is the work of Guardian Adelle! Thank you, Adelle!"

Adelle collected the benevolessence and left smiling to herself. Caitlin followed Adelle out of the church, only able to sense Adelle's presence. After completing some more tasks around town, Adelle decided to call it a day as the sun began to set. As she headed to the statue, she saw Aquila standing in the middle of the road.

"Aquila! What are you doing here?" Adelle asked, tilting her head.

"I guard the entire protectorate now... And that means I must occasionally visit my old territory... How's your ankle feeling?" He asked, glancing down at her foot.

"Much better... Wait a second! I twisted my ankle this morning! You've been watching me all day!" Adelle exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

"um.. Well yes... But only because I wanted to see how your first day went!" Aquila replied hastily.

"Stalker!" Adelle teased.

"I am not!" Aquila retorted, folding his arms.

"Good lord! The feeling got stronger!" Cailtin muttered, searching area around Adelle and Aquila.

"Let's report back to the Observatory, before she runs into us..." Aquila said, pulling Adelle out of Caitlin's path.


	3. Chapter 3

After presenting the freshly harvested benevolessence to Apus Major, Adelle was to offer it up to the sacred tree, just as she had done the previous day. Aquila and Apus Major accompanied her to the top of the observatory. The blossoms on Yggdrasil's branches had turned a beautiful gold.

"The time truely does draw near." Apus Major said, admiring the blossoms.

"Adelle, you should offer the benevolessence now." Aquila said with a smile. "You collected so much... And on your first day. I'm so proud of you."

"I have a great teacher to thank." Adelle replied happily.

Adelle went forth and kneeled at the base of Yggdrasil. She held out the benevolessence as she prayed. Once again, the benevolessence was absorbed into Yggdrasil... This time, however, Yggdrasil began to glow. The golden light blinded the Celestrians. Adelle had kept her eyes shut in prayer, and only opened them when Aquila placed his hand on her shoulder after the light had faded. He was smiling brightly at her.

"Look..." He said as he pointed to the branches. "You did it."

Adelle looked up and gasped. Hanging from the limbs were golden fyggs. She couldn't find the words to speak. Apus Major kneeled down before Yggdrasil and said, "It has happened... Yggdrasil has finally bore her golden fruit! Millennia of toil and waiting… The dream of all Celestrians has come to pass!"

Celestrians below looked up at Yggdrasil and saw the fruit. Word spread like wildfire throughout the observatory. Cheers of joy echoed through the halls.

"Adelle, it was the benevolessence you collected that finally did it! I'm so proud! I knew I made the right choice when I picked you! You did a wonderful job!" Aquila proclaimed.

Adelle's face broke into a huge grin. She sprung to her feet and hopped about in sheer joy. Aquila laughed at her frolicking. He picked her up and tossed her in the air while praising her. He stopped as a loud whistle echoed through the night. They looked up to see a golden train fly towards them.

"The Celestrial Carriage has come at last to take us to the realm of the All Mighty!" Apus Major exclaimed.

The train came closer to the Observatory preparing to land next to Yggdrasil when suddenly, dark clouds filled the sky. A giant beam of light shot from the clouds and struck the golden train. The train plummeted toward the protectorate.

"What's going?" Apus Major shouted.

Adelle ran towards the edge of the Observatory to see what had become of the heavenly train, but Aquila threw his arm out to stop her.

"Stay behind me!" He ordered.

More beams of light struck the Observatory, blasting away at the structure.

"Have we been betrayed? This was not in the prophecy!" Apus Major said as he looked on in stunned horror.

"Adelle, get back inside where it's safe! NOW!" Aquila shouted over the commotion.

"You come too!" Adelle said, refusing to budge.

"Do as I say! Take Apus major with you! That's an order!" Aquila commanded again. His face had turned pale.

Adelle reluctantly obeyed. She stepped out from behind Aquila to fetch Apus Major, but she had only gotten a few feet away from Aquila when another beam of light struck. It missed her by an inch, but the blast was strong enough to knock her into the air. She heard Aquila shout her name as she was sent spiraling. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Aquila reached out to grab her, but another beam struck, knocking a nearby stone pillar onto him. Adelle continued her descent, unable to move her wings as she fell over the edge of the Observatory. The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was Aquila staring at her with his arm outstretched to help.

An earthquake shook Angel Falls and the entire protectorate. Caitlin and Erinn had been paying a late night visit to the Guardian Statue when the quake struck. Erinn prayed quickly prayed to the town guardian for protection from the quake. Caitlin noticed what looked like a shooting star hurdle closer toward them. The object struck the top of the falls, causing a huge wave to rain down upon them. Then a shadow fell down the waterfall, splashing into the pond below. Erinn and Caitlin peered into the pond and saw a body sink to the bottom. Caitlin laid her staff on the ground and dove into the water. She opened her eyes, barely able to make out the figure as it sunk. She grabbed ahold of the person's armor which was surprisingly light, almost like cloth. Caitlin managed to drag the body back to the surface. Erinn waded into the water and helped Caitlin bring the unfortunate person ashore.

"Oh no! Is she dead?" Erinn gasped as she examined the person they had pulled from the water.

Caitlin quickly checked for a pulse. "She's alive! We need to get her to the inn!"

"My house is closer! Let's take her there!" Erinn suggested.

Erinn and Caitlin managed to carry the girl back to Erinn's house.

Two days later, Adelle awoke. She looked about the room instantly recognizing it as Erinn's. Caitlin sat across the room and was staring at Adelle.

"So you're finally awake?" Caitlin asked.

Adelle gasped. "YOU CAN SEE ME?"

"Uh... Yeah... Why wouldn't I be able to?" Caitlin asked confused.

Adelle jumped out of bed, only to discover that she had trouble balancing.

"Hey! Lay down! You fell off the top of the waterfall! It's a miracle that you even survived!" Caitlin said, getting up.

Adelle ignored her. "Why is my balance so off...?"

Adelle tried to flap her wings to regain her balance, but nothing happened.

"What are you talking about? I just said you fell off a waterfall! ... What are you doing...?" Caitlin asked.

Adelle was reaching behind herself to feel for her wings, but felt nothing. She turned her head as far as it would go, but she still couldn't see anything. She spun in a circle straining to see her wings.

"They're gone! Where are they?" Adelle cried out. She then felt the top of her head for her halo. "IT'S GONE TOO!" She shrieked.

Caitlin stared bug-eyed at Adelle's abnormal behavior. "What's gone?"

"MY HALO! MY WINGS! THEY'RE GONE!" Adelle shouted in panic.

"...You aren't dead... Maybe you should lay back down... You must have hit your head real hard during the fall." Caitlin said as she helped Adelle lay down.

Adelle's eyes somehow managed to grow even wider. "You know about my fall?"

"Yeah... You fell from the top of Angel Falls during the earthquake. Erinn and I fished you out of the pond... I can't believe you survived the fall with nothing but minor bumps and bruises!" Caitlin exclaimed. "I've had lesser accidents that did more damage than that!"

Adelle listened as Caitlin explained everything that happened. Erinn came into the room and is shocked to find Adelle awake. Erinn also adds her two cents to the explanation of what happened.

"...So... What's your name?" Erinn finally asked.

"Adelle." She answered.

"Adelle what?" Caitlin asked.

"No last name. Just Adelle." Adelle responded as if that were the norm.

Erinn's eyes sparkled. "That's the name of our town guardian!"

"So, even though I lost my wings and halo, I'm still the guardian? ...What happened to me?" Adelle thought.

"Adelle, what's the deal with that get up? Are you a minstrel?" Caitlin asked as she looked over Adelle's Celestrian armor.

"Um... Yeah... That's it..." Adelle said slowly.

"Caitlin! That was rude!" Erinn chided.

"But her clothes are so strange!" Caitlin responded. "It's like something a minstrel might wear!"

"Please excuse my friend, Adelle." Erinn said.

"It's no problem." Adelle said with a smile. "I owe you two for saving me."

"Oh! Don't thank us! Thank the town guardian for protecting you during that awful fall! Truly, it is one of her miracles that you survived!" Erinn said.

Adelle chuckled. "I don't believe she would want to take credit for the kindness the two of you have shown."


	4. Chapter 4

Ivor and Hank stared at Adelle kneeling in prayer in front of the guardian statue.

"...She's been like that for hours... Do you think she's all right?" Hank asked quietly.

"Probably just loony. Who could find so much to pray for that it takes that long?" Ivor said as he approached Adelle. "Oi! You there! What do you think you're doing? I bet you're using prayer as an excuse to keep from working."

Adelle looked over at them. She couldn't tell them that she was praying in hope for word from her fellow Celestrians.

"Hiding from work? Well, Ivor, you would certainly know about that." Adelle said half teasingly.

A vein throbbed in Ivor's head. "Oh yeah? I don't go mooching off of others! I bet your name isn't even Adelle! You just said that to get a free meal!"

"...Ivor... Maybe you should watch what you say..." Hank advised.

"She's just playing off Erinn's reverence for the town guardian!" Ivor snapped. "This girl is scum!"

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Ivor." Adelle said softly.

"Don't mind him, Adelle! He's just jealous that all of Erinn's attention has been on you lately!" Hank blurted out.

Ivor blushed brightly and punched Hank's arm. "NO, I'M NOT! This girl is nothing but a lazy bum!"

"Hmph… That's something, coming from the town lay about." Caitlin said, walking up to them.

"Who asked you?" Ivor retorted.

Erinn hurriedly joined Caitlin when she saw the confrontation starting.

"Ivor! Have you been insulting Adelle?" Erinn demanded.

"What? N... No! Of course not! I... um... er... was trying to get her to do one of her performances... She's a minstrel after all! She's supposed to preform!" Ivor answered hastily, his cheeks turned even redder than before.

"Liar!" Caitlin hissed.

Adelle had to think fast. She didn't know anything about entertaining people, but she did remember some spells and abilities Aquila had taught her.

"Actually, he's telling the truth." Adelle said.

"WHAT?" Everyone including Ivor exclaimed.

Adelle nodded. "It is my trade, after all... Granted, I'm still a novice, so please forgive me if it's not very good."

Adelle thought of the first spell Aquila had taught her, known as Hot Lick. Adelle wasn't sure it would work because she had yet to test if she still had her magic. She rubbed her hands together, concentrating her magic there until she felt heat emanating from her hands.

"Better stand back!" She warned.

Everyone took a few steps back. Adelle took a very deep breath. She held one of her hands up to her face with her palm facing the sky and exhaled. A giant burst of flame shot forth, stopping inches above the onlookers heads. Ivor fell backwards in shock. Hank, Caitlin, and Erinn gave Adelle a round of applause.

"That's amazing! I've never seen anything like it!" Erinn said gleefully.

"That was the largest fire breathing display I have ever seen!" Caitlin commended.

"Teach me how to do that!" Hank exclaimed.

Adelle smiled. "Thanks! That was the first trick my teacher taught me." She then laughed at the memory. "Most of the lesson was about controlling the flames... I accidentally set myself on fire... He never let me live that one down."

Erin noticed the position of the sun. "Oh no! I have to get to the Inn! I'll be late serving lunch to the guests!" She said before sprinting to the inn.

"Look what you went and did! Now Erinn's late and it's all your fault!" Ivor shouted at Adelle.

"Shut up, you lousy brat! You wouldn't know punctuality if it bit you in the butt!" Caitlin shot back.

"First my old man and now you guys! Everyone needs to get off my back!" Ivor snapped.

That afternoon, Ivor once again approached Adelle who was still praying by the guardian statue. Caitlin had fallen asleep in the grass next to Adelle.

"Oi!" Ivor called over to them, startling Adelle.

"What is it, Ivor?" Adelle asked as she turned to face him.

"The earthquake caused a rockslide that blocked off the only pass leading to Angel Falls... Because of this, no one can travel to Angel Falls and Erinn's inn is suffering... I'm going to the pass to clear it. That way, everyone will stop saying that I'm lazy." Ivor stated.

"That's quite noble, but it is also very dangerous. There are many monsters living along the way to the pass, and you have never been particularly good with a sword." Adelle said, trying to dissuade him.

"That's why I came to you. I noticed that you carried a sword... And Caitlin is a martial artist... I hoped that you two would accompany me and act as body guards..." Ivor said, staring at the ground.

"Certainly!" Adelle said. She then poked Caitlin. "Time to wake up..."

Caitlin grumbled and rolled onto her side. "Not now... I'm beating up Ivor..."

Adelle gently shook Caitlin. "No beating up the person we are supposed to protect..."

"Fine... Zzzz... Wait! What?" Caitlin said, sitting bolt upright and accidentally crashing her skull into Adelle's.

Adelle rubbed her head. "Ouch... That smarts..."

Caitlin clutched head and spewed profanity. "LORD ALL MIGHTY! WHAT ARE YOUR BONES MADE OF? STEEL? THAT FREAKING HURT!"

"Sorry..." Adelle said, rubbing the back of her neck.

Ivor touched his hand to his forehead and murmured, "I am so going to be monster food..."

"And what was that about protecting the Snot?" Caitlin exclaimed, looking directly at Adelle.

Adelle then explained Ivor's proposal and Caitlin's expression softened.

"Fine... But only to help Erinn..." Caitlin said. "She's been very kind to me."

"All right! Let's go!" Ivor said grinning.

Ivor led them out of the village. The three followed the winding path through the valley towards the small mountain range. Whenever monsters came close, Caitlin would strike them with her staff. Adelle gave Ivor her shield and kept her sword at the ready. They eventually came to a fork in the road. Ivor continued down one path, but stopped as soon as he realized that his body guards were no longer following him. Adelle and Caitlin were staring at a ghostly white train cabin next to the crossroads. Adelle instantly recognized it as the Celestial Carriage that had been struck down during the incident at the observatory, but it had lost its golden glow.

"What's this doing here? I don't remember passing this before..." Caitlin muttered.

"Oi! Why are you two staring at air? We have a job to do!" Ivor shouted at them.

"What's this thing?" Caitlin asked, pointing to the train car.

"What are you pointing at? The tree? Have you gone loony?" Ivor asked, rolling his eyes.

Adelle placed her hand on Caitlin's shoulder before Caitlin could make a comeback and whispered, "Don't bother. It's not important. Let's go on."

Caitlin reluctantly followed Adelle and Ivor to the blocked pass. They didn't notice a small pink light emerge from one of the bushes near the Celestial Carriage.

"Wow, it was all most as if those mortals could see it..." The light said to itself.

"Aw crap! Look at the size of those rocks! I can't move that! It's impossible!" Ivor exclaimed.

"You haven't even tried!" Caitlin said, lightly whacking Ivor's head.

Adelle shook her head. "We need tools that Angel Falls just doesn't have."

The three were about to return home when they heard a shout from the other side of the rock pile.

"Hey! Are you from Angel Falls?" The voiced asked.

"Yeah! I'm the mayor's son, Ivor!" Ivor called back.

"We are a royal troop from Stornway! We will have the rockslide cleared soon!" The voice, belonging to a soldier, replied.

"That's great! Thanks!" Caitlin called.

"Is there a woman named Patty in your village?" The soldier asked.

"No! Why?" Ivor responded.

"A prominent woman known as Patty left Stornway a few days ago for Angel Falls! No one has heard from her since!" The soldier answered.

"No one? Are you sure?" Adelle asked.

"Yes! If you see her, please let us know!" The soldier said.

"We should go back and tell Dad that the pass will be cleared." Ivor said before cursing. "I wanted to clear the pass... But at least it will be cleared, and that will help Erinn."

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU WOULD BE SO FOOLISH AS TO TRAVEL THERE BY YOURSELF! YOU KNOW THAT THE MONSTERS HAVE INCREASED ACTIVITY! AND YOU ENDANGERED THE GUESTS TO OUR VILLAGE!" The mayor shouted at Ivor.

"Hey! I brought word that the pass was going to be cleared!" Ivor retorted.

"That's useless information! The soldiers would have sent someone to inform us once the work was done!" The mayor snapped. "You could have been killed!"

"Well excuse me for trying to be helpful!" Ivor said, folding his arms.

The mayor turned to Adelle and Caitlin. "I am sorry for my son's rashness. Thank you for protecting him."

"It's all right." Caitlin said, waving her hand dismissively. "C'mon Adelle, let's go visit Erinn."

Adelle and Caitlin then left for Erinn's house. They told Erinn all about the day's adventures and about the soldiers. Erinn dropped the linens she was carrying when they mentioned the name "Patty".

"Patty is missing? You're sure?" she exclaimed.

"...Um... you know her?" Caitlin asked.

"Well… sort of... I remember my father talking about a woman he used to know who was named Patty and who was from Stornway." Erinn answered.

"Oh... Don't worry. I'm sure she's all right." Adelle said with a reassuring smile.

"What if she came here to speak with my father? He's dead and she would have made the journey in vain!" Erin said in horror. "And what if something happened to her during the earthquake?"

"Look, she wasn't anywwhere along the path and we would have seen a body if she had died. There's only one way in to this valley after all." Caitlin said, trying to calm her.

"Actually, there is another way. There is an abandoned tunnel near the pass that used to serve as the route to Stornway... But it was unstable and crawling with monsters, so the pass was built." Erinn's grandfather said as he entered the room.

Erin turned pale. "Grandpa, you don't think she went through it do you? What if she was attacked and killed? ...I… I have to pray to Guardian Adelle... Please... Excuse me..."

Erinn ran out of the house to the guardian statue. Her grandfather turned to Adelle and Caitlin.

"I know it is asking a lot, but could you two look for Patty in the tunnel? It put Erin's mind at ease." Her grandfather said.

"Of course we will. Come on, Caitlin, let's go." Adelle said, smiling.

Caitlin rolled her eyes. "You never consult me before these little side quests..."

Adelle blinked and hastily said, "Oh! I'm sorry! You can stay here if you like!"

"No, I want to help Erinn." Caitlin said.

Adelle and Caitlin grabbed their weapons and set out for the tunnel.


	5. Chapter 5

The sun had set by the time Adelle and Caitlin reached the tunnel. They had only gone a short way into the tunnel when they came to a dead end.

"...Well this is just great! What do we do now?" Caitlin groaned. "Stupid wall!"

Caitlin kicked the wall and injured her foot. She rolled around cursing vehemently. Adelle didn't notice Caitlin's agony because she was too busy focusing on the ghost of a middle-aged man. The ghost hovered above the path they had followed. He seemed startled when Adelle's gaze met his. He floated toward the entrance, almost beckoning her to follow. Caitlin looked up and saw him disappear around a corner. Caitlin's eyes widened and her face paled.

"G... g... That was a ghost!" Caitlin stammered.

Adelle smiled. "Yep! Let's follow him!"

Adelle started to follow the ghost, but Caitlin grabbed her arm. "Are you insane? That was a ghost!"

"Yeah... And he looked like he wanted to help!" Adelle said as she happily followed ghost.

Caitlin sighed. "Yep... She definitely hit her head too hard when she fell... Hey! Wait up!"

Caitlin followed Adelle who followed the ghost towards the entrance of the tunnel. The ghost then turned down a small path that they had missed in the dark. They followed the path until they found the ghost floating next to a statue of a mage. The ghost then vanished into thin air.

"Great... ANOTHER dead end!" Caitlin groaned.

Adelle examined the statue and found a small switch near the base. Curiosity got the better of her, so she flipped the switch. There was a loud rumbling as the entire tunnel shook.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Caitlin shouted, almost knocked off balance by the shaking.

"um... Hey the rumbling stopped! Let's check it out!" Adelle said quickly.

Adelle retreated down the hall toward the dead end where they first saw the ghost. Only now, the wall blocking their path had disappeared. Adelle spotted a torch on the wall and used her hot lick ability to ignite it. Caitlin took the torch and led the way down the winding path. Everything went smoothly until Adelle tripped over a rock. She fell face first into the ground, dropping her sword which slid into a deep chasm.

Caitlin looked down the chasm. "Yeah... Good luck getting that back..."

"Ow... The rock poked me..." Adelle mumbled as she rubbed her stomach.

Caitlin's eyes widened as she saw what rock Adelle was referring to. "You landed on a stalactite or stalagmite or whatever that is! You are lucky you weren't impaled!"

Adelle laughed and rubbed the back of her neck. She had forgotten that being a Celestrian made her far less frail than her mortal friends. "Well, let's go on. I can make do without my sword."

The two girls continued onward. They finally came to a lit room with a large piece of rubble in the middle. A woman with long dark blue hair was trapped under the rubble.

"Hey! Thank the All Mighty you two showed up! Help me get out of here before that beast comes back!" The woman said upon seeing them.

Caitlin leaned against the rubble and tried to push it off of the woman. Adelle tried to dig at the dirt floor around the woman's legs so she could slip out.

"You wouldn't happen to be Patty, would you?" Adelle asked while digging.

"Yeah. How'd you know?" Patty answered. She then shook her head. "Never mind, just hurry!"

"What's got you scared?" Caitlin asked, pushing against the rubble.

"I was attacked by a terrible monster! Then there was an earthquake that scared it off, but trapped me here." Patty explained.

There was a loud roar that echoed through the room. Adelle and Caitlin looked up from their rescue mission just as a huge, green ram monster burst into the room. It pawed angrily at the ground.

"That's it!" Patty shouted. "Run!"

Caitlin readied her staff. Adelle reached for her sword, but then remembered that it had fallen into the chasm.

"Crap! What a time to lose my sword!" Adelle moaned.

"Here!" Patty called, tossing an object to Adelle. "This fan is designed for use in battle! Take it!"

"Thanks!" Adelle said examining the fan. "Cool! It's made out of ore, not paper or cloth! And it's really sharp!"

"Hey! Pay attention!" Caitlin called.

"Oh, right! Sorry!" Adelle replied, returning her focus to the matter at hand.

The ram charged at Caitlin. Caitlin jumped out of the way and tried to strike the ram's feet with her staff. The attack was a success; the ram stumbled to the ground. Adelle jumped on the ram, slashing at it with the battle fan. The ram got back to its feet with Adelle still on its back. Adelle instinctively clung to its fur. The ram began to chase Caitlin around the room. Caitlin was hesitant to attack incase the monster would roll and crush Adelle.

"Make it stop!" Adelle cried out.

"You're the one riding it! You do something!" Caitlin said, leaping out of the ram's path.

"Aquila... What do I do...?" Adelle muttered.

Adelle racked her mind for any piece of training that might be useful. All that came to mind was Aquila teaching her the Hot Lick ability and how she accidentally set herself on fire. Right then, she noticed old kerosene lanterns hanging from the walls.

"Caitlin! Break those lanterns on the rams face!" Adelle ordered.

"That'll only make it angry!" Caitlin shouted, looking at Adelle as though she were insane.

"DO IT!" Adelle commanded. "HURRY!"

Caitlin nodded and ran in front of a lantern where she stood in wait for the ram to charge at her. She waited until the last second to jump out of the way. The ram head butted the lantern, shattering it against the wall. Kerosene soaked the ram's fur. Caitlin did the same trick again with another lantern, so the ram's face was drenched in the kerosene.

"That's enough! Get out of the way!" Adelle said.

Adelle struggled to keep her balance as she prepared Hot Lick. As soon as her hands were emanating heat, she leaned over the head of the ram and stared it in the eyes. She then sent a burst of flame into its face. In seconds, the entire ram was engulfed in flames.

"ADELLE!" Caitlin called in horror as she ran toward the burning ram.

Adelle slipped off the burning monster and quickly backed away. Caitlin hastily examined her.

"You... You aren't even singed!" Caitlin exclaimed.

Adelle smiled and clutched the Elfin Charm that Aquila had given her. "My teacher gave me this. It keeps me from being burned or poisoned or anything like that!"

Caitlin grabbed Adelle's shoulders and shook her. "YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME THAT BEFORE HAND! I THOUGHT YOU WERE MADE EXTRA CRISPY!"

"Stay sharp you two! It's not over!" Patty warned.

The ram charged at them once again. Adelle closed her eyes and remembered another spell called Crack. Her eyes glowed an icy blue, and a large, sharp icicle appeared from thin air, crashing into the ram. Caitlin used the opening to bash in the ram's skull with her staff. The ram staggered, and then finally collapsed to ground, dead.

"That was great!" Patty cheered.

Patty managed to wiggle free from her prison during the fight. Her leg was smashed badly, so she couldn't walk. Adelle knelt next to Patty and placed her hands on Patty's injured leg. A soft glow enveloped Patty's leg and healed the injury.

"Wow..." Patty said. "Thanks. Let's get out of here before anything else happens."


	6. Chapter 6

Adelle and Caitlin took Patty to the inn just as Erinn was about to head home. Erinn immediately found a room for Patty to stay in when they greeted her. Caitlin explained to Erinn everything that happened in the tunnel.

"Oh! So you're Patty!" Erinn said with a relieved sigh. "I was so worried when I heard that you were missing."

"So you remember me?" Patty asked, smiling. "You were so small when I last saw you! ...Oh, Erinn, may I speak to your father?"

Erinn's face fell. "I thought that was why you came out here... I'm sorry, but my father... Is no longer with us..."

Patty's eyes widened. "You mean... Edwinn passed away?"

"I'm afraid so... It happened a few years ago..." Erinn said quietly.

"I'm so sorry... I can't believe that the Inncredible Inntertainer…" Patty trailed off and then shook her head. "So you run this place by yourself then?"

Erinn nodded. "Yes, but I enjoy the work..."

Patty looked around the inn and smiled. "Well, it's certainly a lot smaller than most inns, but it's so quaint! I bet the guests feel more comfortable here than in their own homes!"

"Thank you, but I..." Erinn started, turning red from embarrassment.

"No buts about it! You are definitely Edwinn's daughter! I have an eye for seeing peoples' strengths and you have a talent for inn keeping! I've decided, Sweetie, you're coming back to Stornway to run Edwinn's old inn!" Patty declared.

"Wh.. wh... WHAT?" Erinn stammered.

"Yeah, ever since Edwinn left, business has been terrible. I came here to convince him to return. But since he's no longer with us, you can take over for him! You'll do great!" Patty explained.

"Thank you, but I can't... And please don't try to talk me into it! I'm sorry, but… I have to go home now." Erinn said before running out of the inn as fast as she could.

Patty sighed. "A stubborn one... Oh well, she'll see sense soon enough." She then turned to Caitlin and Adelle. "Hey, could you two try to convince her to come to Stornway? It would be a great opportunity for her. It would be a shame for her to pass it up."

"Sure thing!" Adelle said, and then happily dragged Caitlin to Erinn's house.

"What did I say about consulting me first?" Caitlin exclaimed.

Adelle quickly let go and looked at her apologetically. "Oh! I'm really sorry! I got carried away! You can go to bed if you like."

"No, I'm coming with you." Caitlin replied.

Caitlin followed Adelle back to Erinn's house. When they arrived, they spotted the ghost from the tunnel standing outside Erinn's front door.

"It's the ghost!" Caitlin exclaimed, jumping back.

"Hello sir! Thank you for helping us earlier!" Adelle said smiling.

"You are the two from the tunnel... So you know Erinn? I am her father, Edwinn... As you can see, I am no longer of this world, but yet I can't bring myself to move on to the next... You two can see me, so does that mean you are...?" Edwinn started.

"HOLD IT ONE FLAPPING MINUTE!" A female voice cried out.

A small, pink ball of flight flew out of a bush toward the group. The ball of pink light grew into a faerie girl. The faerie had a tan, blonde hair, and a short orange dress.

"You were about to suggest that they are Celestrians! I admit that they are unusual mortals being able to see us and the Starflight Express and all, but do they flapping look like Celestrians to you? Where are their wings and halos?" The faerie protested.

"What...? This day keeps getting stranger and stranger... Maybe I was the one who hit my head too hard..." Caitlin mumbled.

"Caitlin is a mortal, so it puzzles me how she can ghosts just like I can... The Celestial Carriage... you called it the Starflight Express, right?" Adelle asked.

"Yes! I am Stella, the completely awesome and amazing stewardess of the Starflight Express! Not that it will mean anything to you, mortal!" The faerie replied.

"I'm not a mortal. I'm a Celestrian." Adelle said. "I am the new guardian of Angel Falls, to be exact."

Caitlin stared at the three of them in daze as she tried to sort everything out in her head.

"Oh yeah? Well then where's your wings?" Stella demanded.

Adelle proceed to explain the events of the last few days.

"Oh, so you are trying to return home?" Edwinn asked when Adelle finished her explanation.

"Yeah... I have to make sure that everyone is all right and find out what caused this." Adelle answered.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER?" Caitlin shouted, finally coming out of her daze.

"um... You would have thought I was a lunatic?" Adelle said, rubbing the back of her neck.

"This... is a lot to take in..." Caitlin muttered as she sat on the ground.

Stella scoffed. "Yeah, like I'll believe that flapping nonsense!"

"How can I convince you?" Adelle inquired.

Stella thought for a moment. "How about you go and get that old geezer to the afterlife? That just might convince me that you are a Celestrian as you claim. If you are indeed a Celestrian, perhaps I will give you a lift back to the Observatory."

"I'm not a geezer!" Edwinn protested.

"Alright. Thank you very much for the offer." Adelle replied.

"I'll stick with you to make sure you don't try anything sneaky!" Stella said. "Oh, and make any cracks about me being a faerie, and I'll have your guts as a grisly pair of garters!"

"Okay, so Edwinn, why can't you move on to the afterlife?" Adelle asked, choosing to ignore Stella's last remark.

"I guess that I want to watch over Erinn... You see, she was a very sickly child... I brought her out here because the water in Angel Falls is said to possess a healing quality... And sure enough, she slowly became strong and healthy. I gave up my inn in Stornway to save my daughter's life. If Erinn ever found out that I had given up my dream of running the most successful inn in the world for her... She is the kind of girl who would feel guilt over it. I didn't wish that of her, so I never told her about my past in Stornway. I do not regret my decision one bit because Erinn means more to me than life itself. However, my decision to hide my past from her is what keeps her here now... She is strong enough to travel and I know she would like to take up Patty's offer..." Edwinn explained.

"But she feels that she must stay here..." Caitlin added.

Edwinn nodded. "She believes that the small inn here was my life... She will keep it running as long as she can."

"That explains why she works herself so hard to run the inn..." Adelle said.

"The only way to get her to leave for Stornway is if you can convince her that I would have liked for her to go on to bigger and better things." Edwinn said.

"And how do we do that?" Adelle asked.

"I buried something just west of the inn, next to the waterfall. It's a prize I won many years ago. Can you fetch it for me?" Edwinn requested.

"Of course we... um... I mean... What do you say, Caitlin?" Adelle asked.

"Yeah. Let's go." Caitlin said, standing up.

After an hour of digging around the falls, they found a golden trophy. It has a plaque that read:

_"This Inny is awarded to Edwinn, the Inncredible Inntertainer by the King of Stornway in honor of his impressive accomplishments in inntertainment."_

"Wow, bad pun central..." Caitlin said.

Adelle nodded. They then took the award back to Edwinn and showed it to him.

"Yes, that's it. Show this to Erinn and explain it to her... Tell her that I want her to do whatever her heart desires." Edwinn said.

"We will." Adelle replied.

Adelle and Cailtin entered the house to find Erinn talking to her grandfather. Her grandfather instantly recognized the Inny in Adelle's hands. He beckoned them to show it to her. Erinn was amazed by the award. Erinn's grandfather then took over the job of explaining Erinn and Edwinn's past.

"So... my father... gave up his dream for me?" Erinn asked, teary eyed.

"No, Erinn. You were his dream." Her grandfather responded.

"What... What should I do now?" Erinn asked.

"Whatever you want to do. It's your decision. That's what your father would have wanted." Caitlin answered.

"And don't worry about me if you decide to go. I may be old, but i can still take care of myself." Her grandfather said with a smile.

"Thank you..." Erinn said softly. She thought deeply for a long time. Finally, she sighed and said, "I think I will go to Stornway... Someone has to fulfill my father's dream."

"I am sure you will be very happy, Erinn!" Her grandfather said, giving her a warm hug.

Adelle and Caitlin snuck out of the house to give them some privacy.

"Thank you for helping Erinn and me. I finally have no reason left to stay in this world. Farewell" Edwinn said as he glowed brilliantly and disappeared into the night air.

"Well I'll be a blue-nosed goober. You did it. Maybe you really are a Celestrian." Stella said.


	7. Chapter 7

"So... What do you plan to do now? Go back to the Observatory?" Caitlin asked.

"Yes. I have to find out what happened." Adelle replied. "What are your plans?"

Caitlin shrugged. "I don't really know... Now that Erinn has left for Stornway, I suppose that the inn here will close. I have to find another town to stay in." She then laughed. "Maybe I'll head to Stornway! Erinn will give me a room at her new inn!"

"C'mon! Make up your flapping minds! I have to get the Starflight Express to the Observatory!" Stella groaned.

"Then why haven't you done that all ready?" Caitlin snapped.

Stella folded her arms. "I would have... It's just that the Starflight Express kind of stomped a bucket."

Adelle stared at Stella for a moment. "Stomped a...? Do you mean kicked the bucket?"

"Whatever! It's not workin'! I figure it needs a Celestrian on board. That's where you come in." Stella replied.

"Caitlin... You can see things that other people can't right? So maybe you can come to the Observatory with me! Columba, Aquila, or Apus Major could probably tell us why you're different." Adelle suggested.

"Do you think that's all right…?" Caitlin asked.

"Well, you could at least ride there with me and I'll ask the higher ups if it's okay." Adelle added.

"Sure! I'll be the first human to see it right?" Caitlin said with a grin "That would be so cool!"

"Yeah! Fine! Let's get flapping!" Stella said, tapping her foot impatiently.

Adelle and Caitlin packed their belongings. As they headed out of the inn, they noticed a blonde boy standing behind the reception counter.

"Ivor? What do you think you're doing?" Caitlin exclaimed.

"I can't believe that Erinn decided to move to Stornway just like that!" Ivor grumbled mostly to himself.

"Ivor, why are you behind there?" Caitlin repeated.

"What's it look like I'm doing? I'm working!" Ivor retorted.

"Doing what?" Caitlin asked.

"Erinn left and I couldn't let the inn close! Therefore, I decided to take it over! Now that I have my own business, maybe my old man will stop calling me lazy!" Ivor declared.

"So, basically you are doing this to impress Erinn..." Caitlin said.

"NO!" Ivor shouted, turning bright red. "My inn is going to be so awesome that hers will go out of business!"

"But your inns are in different towns... The business in one won't affect the business in the other..." Adelle said.

"What? You don't think my inn will be famous?" Ivor asked.

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up..." Caitlin answered.

"I'll show you! This inn will be better than ever before!" Ivor proclaimed loudly.

"There's no need to yell. I'm sure your inn will be great." Adelle said smiling.

"Oh yeah? Well… Wait. Oh… Um.. Thanks! Starting today, the quality of the inn will go up!" Ivor said proudly.

"We'll have to come back and visit then." Adelle said.

"…Huh? What do you mean? There's no other inn in Angel Falls. Where are you going to stay?" Ivor asked.

Adelle smiled. "I'm finally going home."

"WHAT?" Ivor exclaimed.

"You heard her. And I'm going to visit her hometown with her." Caitlin replied.

"But... But you two can't! We just became mates!" Ivor protested.

"…Please tell me that you meant mates as in friends…" Caitlin teased.

"Of course I did! What did you think I meant… Oh… HELL NO!" Ivor shouted.

Adelle laughed. "Don't worry, I'll come back. Now, I believe it's time for us to leave. Good bye Ivor."

"Well… Who needs you two loonies anyway! Good riddance!" Ivor said with watering eyes.

Adelle and Caitlin left Angel Falls and followed the path to the fork in the road where the Starflight Express had crashed. Stella unlocked the engine room for them. Caitlin entered and looked around. Adelle followed after her, and as soon as she stepped into the Starflight Express, the whole train glowed gold.

"Woah! Maybe you really ARE a Celestrian!" Stella exclaimed as she made her way to the controls. "Okay! Next stop: the Observatory!"

"I can't wait! Aquila is probably worried about me..." Adelle said.

"Um… didn't you say that a pillar fell on him? Shouldn't you be worried?" Caitlin asked.

"No. We Celestrians are sturdy enough to withstand something like that. He probably just got a bruise." Adelle replied nonchalantly.

"Well that explains your lack of injuries…" Caitlin said.

"What the flap? The controls aren't working" Stella said, throwing a tantrum. "I shouldn't have trusted you! You aren't a stinkin' Celestrian! The train isn't working! GAH! Where's old Fat Guts when you need him?"

"But the train lit up when she got on, so she must be a Celestrian… Maybe it's because she doesn't have all of her powers?" Caitlin suggested.

Stella ponders the suggestion for a moment and then her face lights up. "I've got it! I'm brilliant! If she collects some benevolessence, the train will recognize her as a full-fledged Celestrian and we can get going!"

"…Collect what?" Caitlin asked.

"Benevolessence is the physical manifestation of gratitude that mortals feel towards Celestrians." Adelle explained.

Caitlin tilted her head. "So, what…? We do people favors?"

"Basically, yes." Adelle said.

"Good Flap this'll be a drag! Let's go to Stornway where there will be tons of helpless mortals in need of help!" Stella said. "Get moving! Cut Cut!"

"You mean 'chop chop' right?" Adelle corrected.

"BUGGY THE CLOWN!" Caitlin suddenly exclaimed.

Adelle and Stella stared at her strangely. Realizing that the other two didn't get her reference, Caitlin sheepishly looked to the side.

Caitlin and Adelle stood outside the gates of Stornway. Adelle was staring at the giant stone walls surrounding the castle town.

"IT'S SO BIG!" Adelle exclaimed. "I bet it could encircle the Observatory!"

Caitlin sweat dropped. "You don't get out much, do you?"

Adelle shook her head. "I've never had reason to go elsewhere in the protectorate."

"Well, you're in for a treat!" Caitlin grinned.

Caitlin led Adelle into Stornway. They headed down the main street and spotted a large, slightly run down inn with a sign saying "Quester's Rest".

"Hey! That's Erinn's new inn! Let's go say hi!" Adelle said eagerly.

They entered the inn and went up to the front desk. Erinn was busy cleaning a shelf so she didn't notice them.

"HI ERINN!" Caitlin exclaimed as loud as she could.

Erinn jumped a couple of feet into the air. She whirled around. A large smile spread across her face when she recognized the two girls standing before her.

"CAITLIN! ADELLE!" She cried out, hugging them both tightly. "I'm so happy to see you! I feared we wouldn't meet again!"

"We couldn't pass up the chance to see your new place!" Caitlin said.

"Ah, so you two girls are here? Well, I can put you to good work." Patty said smiling.

"Work…?" Caitlin asked.

"Yep. I've got an eye for talent, and I believe that you two can drum up some business for us." Patty replied.

"Patty! They're guests!" Erinn chided.

"I'm sure they'll be glad to help. Now go out and attract customers!" Patty said, ushering Adelle and Caitlin outside. She then shut the door behind them.

"Looks like we won't get a room unless we put in a little elbow sweat." Stella said.

"How do we find guests?" Adelle asked.

"Wait by the gate and drag the travelers to the inn!" Stella suggested.

"Sounds like a plan!" Caitlin said. "Or we could go to the market and get people's attention. A lot of people go to Inns for the food, not to stay overnight."

"Okay… So which do we do?" Adelle asked.

"Do both! Two are better than one!" Stella answered.

"Adelle, go to the market and do some of your tricks to get people's attention. I'll stay by the gate and wrangle in the travelers." Caitlin said.

Adelle nodded and set off for the center of town. Caitlin returned to the gates. Try as she might though, none of the travelers wish to stay at the Quester's Rest. After a couple of hours of failed persuasion, Caitlin slumped to the ground.

"I need a new strategy…" Caitlin muttered.

A young man wearing chain mail and carrying a sword and shield approached the gate. Noticing the warrior's weapons, Caitlin got an idea. She grabbed her staff and stood in the warrior's way.

"Do you or do you not want to stay at the Quester's Rest inn?" Caitlin demanded.

"No. I want to see the King of Stornway, now move." The warrior said, grabbing the hilt of his sword.

He tried to walk around her, but she moves so that she continued to block his path. She swung her staff, purposely missing him by an inch. He drew his sword and lunged at her. Caitlin jumped back to avoid the sword. She swung and missed again. He once again lunged at her after her swing. And, just as before, she dodged. This continued as the two slowly moved towards the inn. It became increasingly difficult for Caitlin to dodge the Warrior's attacks because he kept changing tactics. She finally managed to get him to the front door of the inn. With a quick swing of her staff, she knocked him into the inn.

"Got one!" Caitlin declared proudly.

"What's your problem?" The warrior shouted.

Patty and other staff members walked by, balancing plates of food they were taking to the crowd of people in the dining area/bar.

"Thanks, but Adelle already got more than enough business for us to handle." Patty said.

"WHAT?" Caitlin shouted.

Caitlin peered into the tavern part of the inn. She saw Adelle performing her fire breathing and other magic spells for the patrons. Adelle noticed Caitlin and waved. Caitlin waved back, then collapsed in a chair. Erinn sat next to her.

"Don't feel bad! Most of these people won't be staying the night unless they become too drunk to walk home." Erinn said comfortingly.

"How the hell did she get so many?" Caitlin asked exacerbated.

"Apparently she entertained a bunch of children in the market place. The children threw tantrums until their parents agreed to take them to see the dinner show here." Erinn replied.

Caitlin banged her head on the table. "Why didn't I think of that?"

Caitlin looked up as a shadow loomed over her. She found herself staring into the very furious eyes of the warrior she "led" to the inn.

"I believe we have a fight to finish!" The warrior glared.

"Oh come on! I stopped fighting you!" Caitlin groaned.

"Um… I'm sorry for any inconvenience sir… Perhaps you would like a free night?" Erinn asked.

The warrior paused, and then said, "Sure. Thanks."

"No, Erinn, don't give a free room because of something I did!" Caitlin exclaimed.

Erinn whispered to her, "*If he likes the service, he may stay more nights and spread the word. Don't worry, most rooms aren't filled anyway." Erinn then left to take care of the other customers.

"What a flapping waste of effort!" Stella complained.

The warrior's eyes widen. "Wh.. what… Are you a faerie?"

"You can see me?" Stella asked stunned.

"Yeah! You're right in front of me!" The warrior responded.

"I can't believe that you can see Stella!" Caitlin said.

"You see her too?" The warrior asked. "Why is there a faerie here?"

Stella and Caitlin got into a long conversation with the warrior, during which, the warrior forgot all about the fight he and Caitlin had earlier.

"So, what's your name and what brings you to Stornway?" Stella asks him.

"My name is Matt. I am training to become a knight. I came to Stornway because I got word of some trouble they have been having with a rouge knight. I figured this was my chance to prove my worth." He answered.

"A rouge knight?" Caitlin asked.

"Yeah. He came out of nowhere and attacked the city a few times now. He's apparently really strong… I heard a rumor that he's after Princess Simona. The king is getting really nervous. He even offered a reward for anyone who can defeat the rouge knight." Matt replied.

"…Hmm… So he's been terrorizing the town?" Stella muttered.

Matt nodded. "Luckily, no one has been killed in his attacks… But a great many guards at the castle have been hospitalized. If this keeps up, Stornway will have no defenses against invaders. They're desperate for help."

"Desperate for help? Perfect! If this rouge knight is defeated, then this whole place will be overflowing with benevolessence!" Stella said beaming.

"So we should defeat the knight…" Caitlin said.

"What are you talking about? Don't even think about trying to defeat him. I traveled too far to let someone else take the glory. Besides, he'd kill you in five seconds flat." Having said this, Matt left for his room.


	8. Chapter 8

Adelle and Caitlin entered Stornway Castle. It was massive with many elaborate portraits adorning the walls. Caitlin had to push, pull, and drag Adelle past the many shiny objects in the corridors. After winding their way through the castle, they reached the throne room. They curtsied before the royal family. King and Queen Schott sat in the thrones at the head of the room while Princess Simona stood beside her father. Matt was already kneeling before the King.

"What brings you two lasses here?" King Schott asked.

"We would like to help you deal with the rogue knight." Adelle answered.

Matt looked over at the voice and then fell over out of shock.

" You? You're the minstrel who was entertaining kids at the inn! And that's the crazy woman who tried to bludgeon me!" Matt exclaimed. "I thought I told you two that it was too dangerous for you."

"Hi! …Oh, that's right! You wanted to stop the Knight too!" Adelle responded with a pleasant smile.

"Don't be friendly to that jerk." Caitlin chided.

"Jerk? You're the one who attacked me for no reason!" Matt exclaimed.

The King cleared his throat to restore order. "So all three of you are here to vanquish that troublesome rogue who has thrice assaulted Stornway? Our best soldiers have failed to defeat him. I believe it best if the three of you worked together to bring an end to his terror."

"WHAT?" Matt and Caitlin shouted in unison.

"Okay! That would be great!" Adelle piped.

"HEY! CONSULT US FIRST!" Matt and Caitlin snapped at her.

She smiled brightly at them. "See! You're starting to think alike already! We'll make a great team!"

"It's settled, then." The king said.

"Father, I don't think it's necessary to hire people… I believe that the Knight isn't as bad as everyone thinks. There have been no casualties, after all." Simona said, turning to face her father.

"Simona dear, why don't you go to your room?" He responded calmly.

"Yes, Father…" Simona said as she reluctantly left their sight.

"So… How do we find the Knight?" Adelle asked.

"We received a letter yesterday, demanding that my daughter go to the loch north of the castle alone tonight. We would like you to go in her stead." The King answered.

"But there are three of us. He won't show." Matt remarked.

"Two of us could hide. The other could pretend to be Simona." Adelle suggested.

Matt sighed. "Fine, just so long as I'm one of the two hiding."

The queen looked over at Caitlin. "You are the same height and weight as Simona… A blond wig and a dress will make you look very much like her in the dark."

A large grin spread across Adelle's face. "This is working out perfectly! Okay! Matt, shall we meet you at the loch just before sunset?"

"Sounds good to me." Matt said before left.

"Well, we need to get ready! Bye now!" Adelle said to the king and queen before taking her leave.

Caitlin followed Adelle grumbling, "No one cares about my opinion…"

None of them noticed Simona watching silently from the stairwell.

Erinn placed a kettle-like device on the front desk as Adelle and Caitlin returned to the inn.

"What's that?" Adelle asked examining the kettle.

"Some old traveler left it here as payment for his room. We don't know what it is, but it looks interesting enough to attract the attention of customers so we are putting it on display." Patty answered.

"Feel free to look at it while Patty and I prepare rooms for guests coming tonight." Erinn told them.

As Erinn and Patty left, a voice came from the kettle.

"Finally, someone cleaned me off! I was worried that I'd start rusting!" The voice said cheerfully.

"Did that kettle just talk?" Caitlin cried out.

"What the Flap? Teapots aren't supposed to talk!" Stella exclaimed.

"I am not a teapot! I am Crackpot!" The kettle responded.

"Hi! I'm Adelle. Nice to meet you. This is Caitlin, and the faerie is Stella." Adelle said, gesturing to herself and her friends as she introduced them.

"It's been ages since someone has been able to hear me talk. I like you! I was invented by an alchemist many years ago." Crackpot said.

"An alchemist? That's cool! What do you do?" Adelle asked, completely enthralled with the device.

Caitlin sighed. "And now she befriends cookware… I swear, each day gets stranger than the last."

"I am used to perform alchemy. All you have to do is put in the right ingredients in me and I shall alchemize them for you. It only works if you give me the right ingredients, though." Crackpot explained.

"Alchemize?" Stella asked.

"Combining things so that the product is more valuable than the parts." Adelle answered.

"Is that what you Celestrians learn in school or something?" Stella asked.

"Yep! Aquila taught me! He told me all sorts of cool things that mortals do!" Adelle said beaming.

"You know a great deal… I've decided; you may use me whenever you want!" Crackpot announced.

"Thank you so much! …Oh, but we have to get ready for tonight! Tomorrow maybe?" Adelle said.

"Certainly." Crackpot responded.

Adelle and Caitlin then returned to their room to wait for sunset.

"Today was so cool! When I get back to the observatory, I have to tell Aquila about all of this!" Adelle said as she sat down and looked out the window at the bustling city.

"Aquila this, and Aquila that. You mention that guy every few minutes." Stella complained.

"Do I? Sorry… I never had family, but Aquila has been like a big brother to me though. I guess that's why I talk about him so much. He's a strict teacher, but he has all ways been kind to me." Adelle explained.

"Just how did you and Aquila meet?" Caitlin asked.

Adelle thought back for moment. "I was in the library, speaking with some other Celestrians, while he and Columba were talking nearby."

/Flashback/

"Aquila… perhaps you should take an apprentice…" Columba suggested.

"You too? As I've said for the last few hundred years, I'll get one when I find someone with potential." Aquila said, slight irritation in his voice.

A group of young Celestrians on the other side of the bookcase were talking rather loudly, and their voices almost drowned out Aquila's conversation.

"I want to be a guardian one day, then I'll be worshipped!" One of the Celestrians said.

"But you need to be a guardian of a large town, so more of those mortals will know you." Another Celestrian said.

"Guys, we should be quiet… This is a library." Adelle hushed..

"Sorry. But wouldn't it be cool?" The first Celestrian asked, lowering her voice.

"Yep! Getting to spend so much time amongst the mortals would be awesome." Adelle grinned.

Upon hearing that last comment, Aquila tuned out Columba and focused in on the conversation on the other side of the bookcase.

"What's so awesome about that? They're an inferior race. They're so fragile." The first Celestrian said with a sneer.

"Yeah! If it weren't for Celestrians, they'd be extinct." The second one added. "We have to do everything for them."

"That's not true. They are capable of doing many things on their own. They just need help sometimes, like we do. And just because something is fragile, doesn't necessarily mean that it's worthless." Adelle said, a vein starting to throb in her forehead.

Aquila ignored Columba completely as he stood to get a look at the Celestrians who were speaking.

"What are you doing?" Columba asked.

"Shh! ….Who's that girl? " Aquila asked, pointing to Adelle through a gap in the books.

Columba raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that kind of pushing the acceptable age difference?"

Aquila blinked. "What are you talking about? I just want to find out her name."

Columba laughed and rolled her eyes. "That's Adelle. She comes to the library a lot. Why?"

"It's been a long time since I heard someone her age talk that way about mortals. She has potential." Aquila explained. "What do you know about her?"

"She practices her magic a lot, but she lacks a lot of physical skill. She is fascinated with mortals and their doings. She doesn't have any family, so she spends most of her time by herself. That's about all I know." Columba answered.

Aquila nodded to himself. "Yeah… She'll do. I have decided to take on an apprentice. Now all I have to do is discuss this with her…. Where'd she go?"

The two other Celestrians remained, but Adelle had vanished. Aquila looked around in bewilderment. Columba laughed at her friend's confusion.

"Check the fountain near Yggdrasil. She goes there frequently." Columba said.

She then led Aquila to a fountain located in the woods atop the observatory. Adelle was fast asleep next to the fountain. The two older Celestrians stood over her, trying to determine whether or not they should awaken her. She eventually opened her eyes and returned their gazes.

"H…h… hello…" Adelle stammered; her eyes wide.

"Adelle, this is my old friend, Aquila. Aquila, this is Adelle. Adelle, he has something he would like to talk to you about." Columba said casually.

"Aquila? He's one of the most respected Celestrians! What does he want with me? …What if I'm in trouble? What'd I do, though? Oh man!" Adelle thought, her mind racing.

"Adelle, would you like to be my apprentice?" Aquila asked.

Adelle was snapped out of her thoughts. "What….? Your apprentice…?"

"Yes. I've finally decided to have one. Would you like to be my apprentice?" Aquila asked again.

"…Will I get to go to the protectorate and watch over the mortals?" Adelle asked slowly.

Aquila nodded. "You will become the Guardian of Angel Falls once your training is done."

Adelle's eyes sparkled. "Really? I'd love to! I've all ways dreamed of being a guardian!"

/End of Flash Back/

"How much longer until the Knight shows up?" Caitlin groaned.

"Shut up! You'll blow your disguise!" Matt snapped.

"And you'll blow our cover. Shhh!" Adelle hushed.

Matt and Adelle hid in the bushes while Caitlin stood along the loch shore. The sun had set and the moon had risen higher in the sky. Matt had to periodically poke Adelle to keep her awake. Midnight came, and still no sign of the rogue.

"This flapping sucks! We were stood up by that guy! How dare he?" Stella groused. "I'd like to get a hold of him to give him my peace of mind!"

A dark shadow moved across the lake at a fast pace, stopping a few feet from Caitlin. A deep voice came from the large shadowy figure as it raised its sword. "You are not Princess Mona! What treachery be this? If you will stand in my way of Princess Mona, then I shall eliminate you!"


	9. Chapter 9

The rogue knight swung his sword at Caitlin. She leapt out of the way, but she wasn't used to moving around in a dress, so she ended up tripping.

"Damn it! This is why I stopped wearing these stupid things!" Caitlin cursed.

She barely dodged a second attack, receiving a large gash in her arm from the blade. Matt and Adelle rushed out of hiding.

"Get your friend out of here!" Matt ordered. "I'll distract the knight!"

Matt jumped between the knight and Caitlin. He used his shield to block the Knight's blow and retaliated with his sword. The knight shifted his focus to Matt while Adelle knelt beside Caitlin.

"Give me your arm." Adelle instructed.

"It's fine. I've had worse." Caitlin said.

Adelle grabbed Caitlin's arm and placed her hands over the wound. The wound began to glow and quickly disappeared.

"Wow! That's awesome!" Caitlin exclaimed.

The Knight noticed Adelle healing Caitlin. He charged at Matt, nearly trampling him with his horse. Matt quickly dove to the side to dodge. The knight continued his charge, stopping before Adelle and Caitlin. He raised his sword, his gaze focused on Adelle. Adelle returned his gaze and slowly reached into her satchel. She removed her fan and held it threateningly.

The knight stared at her in surprise. "A fan…?"

Adelle stared at her weapon of choice and realized how ineffective it was against a sword.

Adelle laughed nervously and fanned herself. "Boy, it got hot here fast…."

Everyone, including the horse, face planted. The knight quickly recovered and brought his sword down upon Adelle. Caitlin grabbed her staff and whacked the Knight with it before he could strike Adelle. The blow knocked him off of his horse.

Adelle breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks for that. I owe you."

"Just think of it as repayment for healing me." Caitlin responded with a grin.

"Still, thanks. That was close." Adelle said.

"Hey! We're still in a battle! Move!" Matt yelled.

The knight had snuck up behind Adelle. Before she could respond to Matt's warning, the knight brought had drawn a mace and brought it down upon her head. There was a loud crack as she crumpled to the ground. Matt and Caitlin stared in shock.

"ADELLE!" Caitlin shouted in horror.

Matt grabbed Caitlin's shoulder. "Focus! She's dead! You will be too if you don't pay attention!"

Caitlin's face became a bright red and a vein in her forehead throbbed. She slowly turned towards the knight, a dark aura emanating from her.

"YOU KILLED HER! YOU ****ING *******! I'M GOING TO- " Caitlin roared, detailing very explicit and violent acts.

The knight froze in sheer terror. Matt took a step back from Caitlin, and then noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Adelle was moving.

"She's still alive!" Matt cried out.

Matt and Caitlin rushed to Adelle's side while the knight was still paralyzed by fear. Adelle was doubled over on her knees, her hands clutching the back of her head. Matt pulled away Adelle's hands and examines her head.

"Adelle, are you all right?" Caitlin asked softly.

"It hurts…. That guy was a jerk…" Adelle whined, her eyes watering.

"A bump… All you have is a bump… But there's no way… You were struck so hard… You should be dead…" Matt muttered.

Caitlin grabbed Adelle's shoulders and shook her violently. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! DON'T EVER SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN!"

"Why would you think I was dead? You know I've dealt with worse. This just smarts." Adelle replied, getting a bit dizzy from being shaken.

"…What in the Almighty's name are you?" Matt finally blurted.

"A Celestrian." Adelle answered calmly.

"…I shouldn't have asked…" Matt mumbled.

"Hey! That tin can jerk is on the move again! Pay attention!" Stella shouted.

"Stay here where you'll be out of the way." Matt commanded. "Caitlin and I will deal with him."

Caitlin and Matt battled the knight while Adelle was forced to sit back and heal their injuries. The battle raged on for half an hour with the knight showing no signs of wearing out. Matt and Caitlin on the other hand were exhausted from their assault.

"Why won't he flapping die all ready?" Stella groaned.

"It's his armor. It's too tough. Their attacks aren't penetrating it." Adelle said.

"Grr… I wish that flapping armor would just blow up!" Stella replied.

"Blow… up..?" Adelle muttered as a memory occurred to her.

/Flashback/

Columba was working on an experiment in her room, when Aquila came by with Adelle. Aquila opened the door to her room and stuck his head in. "Hey, Apus Major wants to see you."

Columba jumped, nearly dropping a vial that she was holding. "What did I say about knocking?"

"What? At least you weren't changing this time." Aquila chuckled.

"That's why you're supposed to knock!" Columba shouted, turning bright red.

She then chucked a shoe at Aquila's head. Aquila ducked, but Adelle who was standing behind him didn't and the boot nailed her in the head.

Aquila didn't seem to notice Adelle's misfortune. "Well, Apus Major said it was important, so you better go see him."

Columba sighed. "Okay, but as punishment for not knocking, you will have to put all my stuff away. Oh, and be careful of the pot in the fire place. It is extremely hot. Cool it off before you put it in storage."

After Columba left, Adelle and Aquila set about putting everything away. They finally came to the last item, the pot.

"…So… how do we cool it off enough to move it?" Adelle asked.

"Hmm… I know a spell that creates icicles… That should work." Aquila suggested.

He cast the spell, Crack, causing large icicles to surround the red hot pot. A loud bang echoed throughout the observatory. Fifteen minutes later, Adelle continued to remove ceramic shrapnel from Aquila. Adelle was covered in bandages from her own shrapnel-related injuries.

"Aquila! How does someone as old as you not know that things tend to shatter when they rapidly go from extremely hot to extremely cold?" Columba chided as she helped remove pieces of pottery from him.

"Oh shut up…" Aquila grumbled, diverting his gaze.

"You're lucky you didn't get ceramic in your eye!" Columba continued. "And I think you mentally scarred Adelle!"

"It's not my fault!" Aquila protested.

/End of Flash back/

"I have an idea!" Adelle exclaimed. "Caitlin! Matt! Get out of the way!"

Caitlin saw Adelle rubbing her hands together and pulled Matt out of the way. Adelle sent forth a burst of flame, engulfing the knight. His armor started to glow from the heat. Adelle quickly switched from Hot Lick to Crack, surrounding the knight in giant icicles. There was a loud pop as the knight's armor cracked. Caitlin and Matt took advantage of the situation. Caitlin used her staff to knock off pieces of armor. Matt brought his sword down upon the knight's helm, splitting it in two. Matt jumped back in horror as the knight's face was revealed.

"A… a skeleton!" Matt shouted.

The trio stared in shock at the skeleton knight before them. The knight, weakened by their assault, fell to his knees.

"I concede defeat… But… tell me why... Why would my beloved princess Mona send you?" the knight asked.

"What is flapping wrong with this guy? He can't even get Princess Simona's name right!" Stella exclaimed.

Shock spread across the knight's face. "Wait… Did you say Princess Simona?"

"ACK! Why can he see me?" Stella shouted.

"Well, he's obviously like a ghost which CAN see you." Caitlin replied.

"Simona is the Princess of Stornway. Were you looking for someone else?" Adelle answered the knight.

"I'm sorry for my mistake… It's just that I was asleep for a very long time… The earthquake awakened me and I couldn't remember a thing of my past. Then I saw the princess and the memories of me and my dear Mona came back to me…" The knight explained.

"Simona must be the spitting image of Mona then to cause that." Matt said.

"They are almost identical. But I should have noticed that she wasn't wearing the royal necklace of Brigadoom." The knight said. "I must go back to Stornway castle and apologize for my mistake."

"Bad idea. If you show up there, it'll only cause more trouble. They'll attack you before you can explain a thing." Matt warned.

"But I must do something!" The knight protested.

"We could give them your message." Adelle offered.

"You would do that for me?" The knight asked in surprised.

"'Course we will! We have to report back there anyway!" Adelle grinned.

"Thank you. You are very kind… Then I shall start my search for my homeland of Brigadoom. My princess is waiting for me." The knight said before parting.

In Stornway Castle's throne room, Princess Simona stood before her parents.

"I have decided that I shall go to the knight." Simona declared.

"But it's so dangerous…" Queen wept.

"You be nay going to that rogue." King Schott said firmly.

"But Father! He's after me! If I go talk to him, perhaps the attacks will stop." Simona protested.

"Do I look like the kind o' man who would sacrifice his daughter?" King Schott responded.

The doors to the throne room opened as Matt, Caitlin, and Adelle entered. Simona stepped off to the side to allow them to approach the king.

"Well, what news have ye?" The king asked.

Adelle explained the circumstances around the rouge knight.

"Ach! That be a clear trap! He thinks he can get us to let our guard down! You should have killed him while you had the chance!" The king shouted.

"But, Father! What if he's telling the truth? Think how terrible it would be to be unable to find your homeland!" Simona interjected.

The king scoffed. "That rogue can't be trusted. I haven't even heard of the Kingdom of Brigadoom! That proves he was lying!"

"But Father-" Simona started.

"That's enough. Go to your room!" King Schott commanded.

Simona reluctantly left the throne room.

"Hey! At least listen to your own dau-" Caitlin began, but her mouth was quickly covered by Matt's hand.

"Do not upset the King further. We'll have to devise another plan." Matt whispered.

"I'm sorry, but since you did not kill that rogue, I will not be able to give you the reward." The king stated.

Adelle's face turned pale. She needed to get the city's gratitude to collect benevolescense so she could return home. But she couldn't kill the poor knight just to please the town. She solemnly nodded and left the throne room, followed by Matt who had to drag Caitlin behind them. Once they were out of the king's sight, Princess Simona stopped them and bade them to follow her to her room.

When they reached her room, Simona said. "I wish to help the knight. Unlike my father, I have heard of the Kingdom of Brigadoom."

"You have? Where is it?" Matt asked.

"I… don't know…" Simona admitted.

"That's… uh… helpful…" Caitlin said.

"I'm sorry, but I remember hearing it in a nursery rhyme telling about the Wight Knight. It could give us a clue as to where Brigadoom is." Simona said.

"So… What's the nursery rhyme?" Matt asked.

"I don't remember…." Simona responded.

"Gah! Your memory is worse than Adelle's!" Caitlin exclaimed.

"I'm really sorry! My nurse who would sing it to me has moved back to her hometown of Zere! Perhaps if you went there, she'd tell it to you." Simona suggested.

"Where's Zere?" Adelle asked.

"And don't say 'I forgot' this time." Matt stipulated.

"Don't worry. I remember where it is. Zere is a small town located to the northwest of Lock Storn." Simona answered.

"Okay! Off to Zere!" Adelle exclaimed, heading for the exit.

Caitlin grabbed the back of Adelle's shirt. "Oh no, you are not allowed to lead. Your navigational skills suck. You don't even know which way is northwest, do you?"

"Um… Caitlin navigates!" Adelle said quickly.

Matt shook his head. "Idiots…"


	10. Chapter 10

After a half a day's journey, they arrived in Zere. Zere was a village even smaller than Angel Falls. All the houses surrounded a large hill. Atop the hill was a beautiful tree. When the group entered the village, Adelle gasped. She pointed in horror at the deteriorating guardian statue.

"Wow, someone didn't like that artist's work…" Matt muttered.

"That's horrible! How could they let it get into such disrepair?" Adelle exclaimed

"What are you freaking out about? It's just some crummy stone carving." Matt said.

Adelle's jaw dropped as her eyes then welled with tears. She started trying to put some of the rubble back onto the statue.

"What's her problem?" Matt asked, turning to Caitlin.

Caitlin pulled Matt off to the side. "She's a Celestrian, remember? I thought we explained this on the way over here. Those statues honor the Celestrians who protect these towns. The upkeep of the statues shows the amount of respect to the guardian. They need to have the gratitude of those they protect. It's a big deal to them."

"Oh…" Matt said with a sudden understanding.

A citizen went up to Adelle and chuckled. "Don't bother. That old thing is beyond repair. Let it be."

"Wh… why haven't you been taking care of it? It represents your guardian!" Adelle exclaimed.

"What? That tree there guards over us." The man said, pointing toward the tree on the hill.

Adelle shrunk into the background. "How can they worship a tree over their guardian…?"

"…Don't you Celestrians pray and give offerings to a tree?" Caitlin asked.

"… Yggdrasil is better than that stupid tree." Adelle pouted.

Matt approached the man. "Do you happen to know where we can find an elderly woman named Alonna?"

"I believe that she is visiting her friend Petra…" The man answered before giving directions.

"Thank you for your help." Matt said.

Matt dragged the still pouting Adelle through the village to Petra's house. They knocked on the door and a kindly old woman invited them in. She introduced them to another old lady sitting at the table.

"This is my dear friend Alonna. You said you were looking for her?" Petra said.

Alonna stared at Matt for a long time, then smiled and laughed. "I remember you. You were that wee lad who was always hanging around the castle, trying to become a knight of Stornway. My, you've grown into quite the young man."

"Um… thank you…?" Matt stammered. He then cleared his throat. "We needed to hear the nursery rhyme you would sing to the princess when she was a child."

"Ah… Well, since you travelled all the way out here, I can't rightly refuse your request. Petra, care to join me?" Alonna said with a smile.

"Certainly! I could sing that in my sleep!" Petra replied.

"Giddy up, giddy up and away he goes! The Wight Knight sets off on his steed, in search of evil he rides. If he can defeat the terrible beast, he'll be home to wed his bride. The town is full of laughter, preparing a feast fit for a queen. Och! But then disaster! The Wight Knight's nowhere to be seen! Bird, North, Brigadoom-ward on, tell her that her knight is gone. Bird, North, Brigadoom-ward on, tell her that her knight is gooooone…" The old women sang.

"Thank you for singing that to us. We'll be on our way now." Matt said after memorizing the song.

The three set out and were about to leave Zere when a man ran into the village screaming for help. The Wight Knight pursued him into the village and cornered the man by the guardian statue.

"Please, I do not wish you harm. I merely desire to know how to get to Brigadoom." The Wight Knight said.

"Yeah right! I saw you hanging out with that witch in the forest! You're probably her slave!" The man shouted, hiding behind the decrepit statue.

"Do I look like a witch's slave? I want to know how to return home!" The Wight Knight responded. He then noticed Adelle, Matt, and Caitlin. "Ah, my friends! What are you doing out here?"

"Hi! We just got a clue as to where Brigadoom is!" Adelle answered.

"You didn't have to do that for me, but thank you very much. How did you discover this clue?" The night asked.

The trio explained the nursery rhyme to the Wight Knight.

"But… A nursery rhyme? Surely I am not a figment of a storyteller's imagination… " The knight shook his head. "I need to focus. I shall do as the bird and head north. Thank you again for your help." With that, he rode north.

"Let's go too! I want to make sure he finds his way home!" Adelle said, wandering off.

"Hey! Don't wander off!" Matt and Caitlin shouted after her.

After the three made their way through the toxic swamps north of Zere, they spotted the Wight Knight standing before vast ruins.

"How… How can this be? I surely couldn't have been away long enough for Brigadoom to fall into such disrepair!" The Wight Knight exclaimed before rushing into the depths of the ruins.

"This… Can't be Brigadoom can it?" Caitlin asked.

Adelle shrugged. "Only one way to find out…"

She wandered off into a section of what was once the grand castle of Brigadoom. Matt and Caitlin followed her down a decaying flight of stone stairs and wound their way through the ancient catacombs. In one of the rooms they found an ancient book lying open on a table. Searching for clues as to what befell Brigadoom, Adelle picked up the book and began reading.

"Traditional Brigadoom nuptials… The most important part of a wedding ceremony is the bride and groom's first dance as man and wife-" She read aloud.

Stella snatched the book from her. "We don't have time for this! Move your tail feathers!"

"But I don't have tail feathers…" Adelle muttered.

"Shut up and move!" Stella ordered.

"You are an aggressive faerie." Matt said.

Caitlin was standing in front of a large portrait of a knight. Carved into the frame are the words "The Wight Knight".

"So… He was human once apparently…" Caitlin murmured.

"Yeah… Wonder what happened… " Matt said. "HEY! WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT WANDERING OFF?"

Adelle had gone off to another room.

"I found Mona's room!" Adelle called.

Matt and Caitlin ran into the room. There was another portrait in this room, but this time it was of a young woman who looked very much like Princess Simona. Traces of the once elegant decorations and furniture remained. Matt carefully examined papers on the desk.

"Hey, listen to this." Matt said. He then read one of the papers aloud. "My beloved Wight Knight has left to defeat the evil hag as he had sworn to do… Even though today was supposed to be our wedding… I have not heard from him since he left, so I fear for his safety. I hope he comes back soon, for I shall always wait for his return."

"That's awful sappy." Stella commented.

"Hey, it sure is lucky that all the relevant stuff survived and was super easy to find." Adelle said.

"Focus! We need to find that hunk of scrap metal!" Stella exclaimed as she ushered them out of the room.

They left the room and made their way to what was the throne room. There, a tall blue skinned woman with glowing red eyes and large, purple wings sat on the throne. The Wight Knight stood before her.

"Ah, ma beloved Wight Knight has returned… You shouldn't have run off like that…" The woman said with raspy voice.

"I- I remember you… Morag! You cast a spell on me! You imprisoned me!" The Wight Knight shouted.

"Yes… And now we can go back to the way things were… I cast an imprisonment spell on you and got to hold you in ma arms for two centuries… That cursed earthquake broke ma spell, but now you're back." Morag croaked.

Morag cast a spell that hit the Wight Knight. A dark aura surrounded and paralyzed him.

"Hey! What did you do to him?" Caitlin shouted.

Morag turned her attention to the trio.

"Are you here to separate me from ma beloved? I'll have to dispose of you as well." Morag said as she readied her spell.

Adelle quickly took a defensive stance. "Matt, Caitlin! Get behind me! NOW!"

Matt and Caitlin obeyed just before Morag casts her spell. The dark aura shot forth at Adelle who was shielding herself with her arms. A golden glow came from Adelle followed by a crack and bright light as the dark aura struck her. When the light dispersed, Adelle was still standing and took a step toward Morag.

"How could you survive that? No mortal can withstand my spells!" Morag shouted before a sudden realization dawned on her. "Unless you are one of… Them… Bah! Whatever you are, I shall destroy you!"

Adelle stepped out of the way of Morag's second spell, but Matt noticed that Adelle's left side remained rigid while she moved.

"So she wasn't able to block the whole attack…" Matt thought.

Matt drew his sword and charged at Morag. She used her own blade to block the attack. Caitlin used her staff to attack Morag's knees tripping her. Matt sent his sword toward Morag's throat. Morag rolled out of the way and grabbed Caitlin's ankle, sending her crashing to the ground. Caitlin took her staff and started bashing Morag with it. Morag flapped her wings and retreated into the air. Adelle sent forth a burst of flames from Hot Lick. Morag gave a shrill shriek as she was engulfed by the flames. She hurtled to the floor. Matt seizing the opportunity drove his sword into her, causing Morag to scream.

As she lay dying, she weakly cackled staring at the Wight Knight. "Ah, ma love, it seems that I shall no longer hold you in ma arms… But you can nay turn back the centuries. You shall be doomed to walk the earth, ne'er to see your beloved nor your homeland again."

When Morag closed her eyes for the final time, the Wight Knight regained his ability to move. He stared at Morag and fell to his knees. "Never… see Mona again?"

"My love… I've been waiting so long to see you again…" A voice said from the entrance to the room.

They all turned to see a young woman who looks like Princess Simona wearing a large, beautiful necklace enter the room.

"That necklace… Mona! But how can this be?" The Wight Knight exclaimed.

Mona smiled at him and extended her hand. "I promised to wait for you. And now you have returned… Come, let us have our wedding dance…"

Mona and the Wight Knight danced to an unheard tune while our dumbstruck heroes stared at them.

"What… the hell?" Caitlin exclaimed.

"Isn't she supposed to be dead?" Matt asked.

"Y'know, this would be really romantic if they didn't have to dance around the decaying witch corpse on the floor…." Adelle said.

As Mona and the Wight Knight finished their dance, the Wight Knight began to glow and rose into the air. He looked down at Mona.

"Thank you… I now realize that you are not my Mona. But thanks to you, Princess Simona, I am finally able to move on to the afterlife." He said.

Princess Simona smiled at him as he disappeared. Matt, Caitlin, and Stella stood there with their mouths agape in a stunned silence. Adelle, on the other hand, walked up to Simona.

"That was real nice of you to come out her. You really made that guy happy." Adelle grinned.

"HOW ARE YOU NOT SHOCKED?" Matt and Caitlin shouted.

Adelle tilted her head. "Didn't you guys see her tail us when we left Zere?"

"NO!" They shouted in unison.

"I'm sorry… But I wanted to be of help. And you know, when I was dancing with him, I thought I heard a woman's voice say 'thank you'… Perhaps it was my ancestor, Princess Mona…" Simona said with a smile.

"What do you mean 'your ancestor'?" Caitlin exclaimed.

"Didn't you know? Princess Mona was forced to marry a former king of Stornway when the Wight Knight never returned… I think it was by her doing that I came across this necklace…" Simona responded.

"So… guess the old broad didn't wait for him after all." Stella said.

"Now, let us return to Stornway." Simona suggested.

After chiding his daughter for running off, King Schott thanked the trio for their work in aiding the Wight Knight.

"I feel a bit bad for doubting his story now… But we are forever in your debt for your heroic deeds. Each of you may go to the treasure room and take whatever you desire. Oh, and Matthew…" The king said.

"Yes, Your Highness?" Matt asked.

"How would you like to become a Knight of Stornway?" King Schott offered.

A large grin appeared on Matt's face. "I would be honored."

Matt kneeled before the King and was knighted. Adelle and Caitlin cheered for him. After taking what they desired from the treasure room, the trio exited the castle.

"Would you look at that! Benevolescence as far as the eye can see!" Stella said, beaming. "Oh wait… I forgot. You can't see it any more…"

"It's alright! As long as we got a lot and helped the people of Stornway, that's all that matters." Adelle grinned.

"So… now that you got what you needed, you'll be going home?" Matt asked.

"Yep! I'm dying to know if everyone's okay!" Adelle answered.

"What about you, Caitlin? Are you going to stay in Stornway?" Matt asked, turning to her.

"Nah, I'm going to see the Observatory with Adelle. Not sure where I'll go after that though. It'll depend on my mood. It almost sounds like you're going to miss us." Caitlin laughed.

Matt scoffed. "Yeah right! I finally don't have to deal with your guys' lunacy."

"We'll miss you too Matt! I promise to come visit sometime, 'kay?" Adelle said smiling.

Matt rolled his eyes. "Sure. Try not to get yourselves in any trouble while you're traveling."

"Okay! And take care on your knightly quests." Adelle said.

"I will. Farewell!" Matt replied.

And with that, Caitlin, Adelle, and Stella left Stornway for the Starflight Express.


	11. Chapter 11

Adelle and Caitlin stood in front of the Starflight Express. Stella was already on board, examining the train.

"This is the flapping same! I wasn't wrong was I? Was I not on the right trek?" Stella gasped.

Caitlin climbed onto the train. "Stella, is it working or not? What's taking so long?"

"It's not flapping moving! That's what's taking so long." Stella answered.

Adelle climbed into the train and the train shook, causing Stella and Caitlin to have to cling to the control panels for support. The controls flashed, then flickered, and finally went out.

"What the heck happened? Why'd it go haywire when you got on?" Caitlin exclaimed.

"Wait… when she got on…? Aha! I was right! We just haven't collected enough!" Stella said with a triumphant laugh.

"What are you talking about Stella?" Caitlin asked.

"We need more benevolescense! That's what! Come on, back to Stornway to find more people in distress!" Stella said, leading the way off the train.

"Stornway? Hey, we can say hi to Erinn again!" Adelle said happily.

"Sure, sounds good." Caitlin said.

They hurried back to the Quester's Rest Inn in Stornway. There, they saw a crowd gathered near one of the tables. They headed to the front desk to talk to Erinn.

"Caitlin! Adelle! I'm so glad you're back! I didn't get a chance to thank you for everything you've done!" Erinn said with a big grin. "We've been getting a ton of business just because I'm friends with you! Business is booming and everyone is talking about the wandering minstrel and martial artist who saved the city!"

"I'm glad things are going well!" Adelle smiled.

Caitlin pointed toward the crowd. "What're they all doing?"

"Oh! It's so exciting! Royalty is visiting the inn!" Erinn answered.

"Oh? Is it Princess Simona? If it is, she shouldn't be wandering around town. It's not safe. What if someone decided to ransom her?" Caitlin asked.

Erin nodded. "It is the princess! But, she's accompanied by the newest knight and one of the heroes of Stornway for protection."

"Newest knight? Hero of Stornway? You mean…?" Adelle grinned.

"It's him. I thought you guys would be happy to see him again." Erinn said happily.

"HEY MATT!" Caitlin shouted as she ran towards the crowd.

She jumped into the air, flipping over the crow and landing on the table where Matt and Simona were sitting. Simona applauded Caitlin's acrobatics while Matt fell off his chair onto the floor.

"What are you doing here? I thought you left!" Matt shouted, returning to his seat.

"What kind of greeting is that?" Caitlin demanded.

"The kind I give to people who stand in my food!" Matt snapped.

Caitlin looked at her feet and removed her foot from Matt's sandwich.

"Uh… sorry. Here." She said with a sheepish grin as she handed him the sandwich.

"I don't want it now!" He cried out.

"What? It's not that badly squished!" She retorted.

Matt put his hand to his head as though he had a headache. "Yeah, but I don't know where your foot has been!"

"Hey! I bathe!" Caitlin said, indignantly folding her arms. "Besides! This is the middle ages! Germs won't be discovered for a long time yet!"

"That doesn't mean they don't exist!" Matt retorted. "And why aren't you wearing shoes?"

"Because shoes suck." Caitlin said matter-of-factly.

"That's not an acceptable reason!" Matt groaned.

"You two fight like siblings…" Simona giggled.

Adelle laughed. "Yeah, they're real fun to travel with."

Simona turned to Adelle and smiled. "It's nice to see you again. I thought you said you were returning to your home town, though?"

"I have to postpone the trip for a little bit longer." Adelle responded.

"Why? What's wrong?" Matt asked.

"Engine trouble. We need more benevolescense." Caitlin answered.

"What are you two doing here? We thought you'd be in the castle." Adelle said.

"I'm going shopping and sightseeing!" Simona said while smiling. "Matt's my body guard, but I don't think he's having much fun."

"Sorry, Princess, but when I became a knight, I wanted to do quests, not carry someone's shopping bags." Matt explained.

The princess laughed. "It's perfectly understandable. But, I'm afraid that Stornway is very peaceful. We rarely have any excitement."

"Gah! Why?" Matt exclaimed as he banged his head on the wall.

"Peaceful? Are you sure there's nothing we can do to help people?" Adelle asked, thinking of the benevolessence she needed.

Simona paused in thought. "Not here in Stornway… But the neighboring town of Coffinwell has been in some sort of trouble lately. I'm not sure what's going on, but no one is traveling to or from Coffinwell. None of the merchants here wish to do business with them. It's upsetting because there are quarries near Coffinwell, and our blacksmiths need the ores to make fine armor and weaponry."

"That sounds like the perfect way to get the rest of the benevolescense!" Stella proclaimed. "To Coffinwell!"

"Thanks! We'll go check out Coffinwell and see what's wrong." Adelle said.

"Coffinwell… There've been metal slime sightings there… I'm going too!" Matt suddenly declared with a half-crazed look in his eyes.

"What? But don't you have a job?" Caitlin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm going!" Matt stated firmly.

"Alright, Sir Matthew, you have officially been assigned to accompany Adelle and Caitlin on their adventures. We don't want Stornway's saviors getting in trouble." Simona said.

"YES! ADVENTURE AND METAL SLIMES!" cheered Matt.

"This'll be just like old times." Adelle said happily.

"You mean the other day?" Caitlin asked.

It took several days' journey, but the three reached Coffinwell. A young man outside of the town stopped them, and said, "I'd turn back if I were you. Coffinwell's days are numbered. It doesn't please me to say it, but it's true. It's too dangerous for you to stay here."

"Why? What's wrong with the town?" Caitlin asked.

"I don't care what it is, I'm a knight and I'm not going to run away." Matt said.

"I don't care if you're a king, what's plaguing Coffinwell will affect you too." The man replied. He then looked to his side and shouted, "Hey! I told you to leave!"

Adelle ignored his ordered as she walked up a hill towards Coffinwell's church. There was a large cemetery on the other side of the hill. Adelle couldn't help but notice that there were many fresh graves. Matt and Caitlin quickly caught up to her. They entered the church. It was empty except for the head priest and a woman.

"Where is that disciple of mine? And where is the sacred wine… Oh lord Almighty! He better not be doing what I think he is!" The priest exclaimed.

The sounds of singing and hiccupping wafted into the sanctuary from the confessional.

"Someone certainly seems to enjoy confessing…" The woman remarked.

"He won't when I get through with him." The priest muttered as he walked to the confessional. "Jin! Come out of there!"

The priest went inside the confessional and dragged a young man into the sanctuary by his heels. The young man was wearing a white robe and had very messy red hair. The fact that he was being dragged didn't seem to keep him from continuing his song of "Ring around the Rosy". He was holding a bottle in one hand and a loaf of bread in the other.

"The sacred wine! How could you drink that?" The priest cried out.

"Thish ain't the shacred booze… I gotz thish at the offerin' … alter… thish mornin'… I finisheded the shacred shtuff lasht night…" Jin managed to say through a fit of hiccups.

"Hey! What's he doing with the offering I made? That's for the Almighty!" The woman exclaimed.

Jin laughed. "Didn't you knows that we eats all them offerin's…? I thought ev'rone knewed that…"

The woman's eyes widened as she gasped. "Is.. is that true?"

"Please do not listen to the lad! He is drunk!" The priest said quickly before dragging Jin off to the side and whispering, "You can't tell people that!"

"Oh… shorry… I'll make thish better…" Jin said as he went back to the woman. "No worriesh! I am the Almighty possesshing thish priesht so I may conshume your generoush offerin's! And they's good too!"

The priest, Matt, Adelle, and Caitlin stared at him in complete astonishment. The woman, however, prostrated herself before Jin.

"I am pleased that they were to your liking, Almighty one." She said humbly.

Matt slapped his head to his forehead while the girls stifled a laughing fit. The priest led the woman out of the church and then returned to Jin. He was about to chastise Jin's behavior, when Jin collapsed to his knees in a coughing fit. A look of pity came to the priest's eyes. Adelle kneeled in front of Jin.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" She asked softly.

"Y…yeah… I'll be alright… Thank…." Jin said through his coughs.

He looked up at Adelle and then stared at her, instantly becoming sober. He cupped his hands around her face and examines her carefully.

"You're a Celestrian, aren't you?" He asked quietly before nodding to himself after closer inspection. He then hugged her tightly. "Yes… I can tell… Finally, things will get better… I'm sorry for getting drunk…"

Adelle's eyes widened at his sudden reversal of behavior. "It's… um… okay…?"

Caitlin walked over and smacked Jin with her staff. "Let go of my friend, you drunkard!"

The priest placed his hand on Caitlin's shoulder and whispered to her. "He won't hurt her… He's sober now..."

Caitlin nodded before smacking Jin again. "Fine. Let go of her, you letch!"

Jin grabbed the staff as it came at him a third time and yanked it out of Caitlin's hands. He then returned to focusing on Adelle.

"I really have been improving! Honest! I just drank today because I was so upset about… about…" Jin's look became distant. "Last night… I couldn't stand it… I needed an escape…"

Matt turned quizzically to the priest. "What happened last night?"

The priest took Matt and Caitlin into another room. "Don't you know what is happening to Coffinwell?"

"No. That's what we came here to find out." Matt replied.

"And why did you take us in here?" Caitlin asked.

The priest sighed. "You heard Jin coughing, did you not? He has it too… The events here have been hard on him. I didn't want to upset him further by bringing it up around him. Coffinwell has been hit by a plague. At first it struck only young children, the elderly, and the frail… Now, no one is safe from it… There's no cure and no way to ease the suffering. All we can do is watch the sick suffer until finally…" He looked solemnly out the window toward the graveyard. "We buried a child last night… Jin visits all the sick households in town, in an attempt to ease their sufferings with his healing magic… So when one dies, he takes it very hard."

"That's horrible!" Caitlin said.

"Are you sure there's no cure?" Matt pressed.

The priest thought for a moment. "There was a similar sickness that struck the town over a century ago, but no one knows how they got rid of it."

"When did the plague start?" Caitlin asked.

"Right after that massive earthquake. The disease spread rapidly." He answered.

Matt and Caitlin turned to each other and whispered amongst themselves.

"A lot of things seem to have happened because of that quake." Caitlin noted.

Matt nodded. "Adelle fell from the Observatory, the Wight Knight's imprisonment spell was broken, and now…"

"A plague strikes. And Adelle didn't just fall, her home was attacked. What is going on? It's like the world is coming to an end." Caitlin added.

"Or as though someone is waging war against us." Matt commented.

In the sanctuary of the church, Adelle and Jin were sitting in a pew. Adelle finished telling Jin about how she had fallen from the Observatory and was trying to return home.

"So, you weren't sent to help us…" Jin sighed solemnly.

Adelle shook her head. "I'm afraid not. But I wish to do anything it takes to help this town."

"I doubt there is anything to be done. But, if you'd like, you can accompany me on my rounds later. Your healing powers may be of some use." Jin offered, coughing once again.

Adelle nodded. "I would like that. Um… One thing I need to know… How could you tell that I was a Celestrian?"

"You look like one. You may have lost your wings and halo, but I can still see that you are a Celestrian…. I can't exactly explain it, but I can tell. I figure it must be the same way I can see that faerie fluttering next to you." Jin answered.

"ACK! What is it with everyone being able to see me?" Stella shouted.

Jin chuckled. "I don't know. But I most certainly can see you."


	12. Chapter 12

Matt, Caitlin, and Adelle were laying on the grass in front of the church, staring at the sky while they tried to figure out what to do. They had been in Coffinwell a few days and still had no idea how to cure the town of the plague.

"I swear, I'm going to go insane if I have to see another funeral!" Caitlin exclaimed.

"Well, at least 99% of them move on to the afterlife, not get stuck here as ghosts." Adelle said in attempt to find a silver lining.

"But don't you get benevolescense from ghosts too when you help them move on to the afterlife?" Matt asked.

"Yeah… But I don't want to collect it that way…" Adelle answered.

"This flapping sucks! I say we move on to some other town that we can actually save!" Stella said, folding her arms.

"No! We're staying here until we help them!" Matt, Caitlin, and Adelle shouted in unison.

"Sheesh! Fine! But what if everyone at the Observatory is injured and dying and needs to be rescued soon?" Stella retorted.

Adelle's eyes went wide and she turned ghostly pale. Caitlin smacked Stella with her staff.

"That's not funny! Don't scare Adelle!" Caitlin scolded her.

"Don't worry, Adelle, from what I've seen, it takes a lot to hurt a Celestrian, so I'm sure they're okay." Matt said softly.

"Yeah…" Adelle said, her face lighting up. "That's right!"

"I dunno… Seems odd that Master she's so fond of hasn't come to find her." Stella said.

There was a strained silence as Adelle resumed her horrified look. Caitlin resumed smacking Stella.

"Don't say things like that!" Caitlin yelled.

"Ow! I was pointing out a flapping fact!" Stella said while trying to shield herself with her arms.

"Caitlin, it's alright. Stella has a point…" Adelle said through a coughing fit.

Matt and Stella stared at Adelle. Caitlin glared at her.

"Adelle, what was that?" Caitlin asked slowly.

"Her point was that I need to hurry and get home. My friends may need help." Adelle answered, her voice a bit strained from suppressing more coughs.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT! I WAS TALKING ABOUT YOUR COUGH!" Caitlin shouted.

Adelle rubbed the back of her neck. "Um… If you knew what it was, why did you ask?"

Matt whacked Adelle's head. "No backtalk! You've got it too!"

"Flap! Now we HAVE to stay here and solve these peoples' problems!" Stella groaned.

"You are a horrible person." Matt stated bluntly.

Adelle stretched out on the grass and took a nap, ignoring Caitlin's yelling at her for getting sick. They didn't notice a green-haired woman in a pink outfit walking to the church. And, the woman didn't see them either, and ended up tripping over Adelle and landing on Caitlin.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" The woman exclaimed, quickly getting up.

"Are you alright?" Adelle asked.

The woman smiled at them. "I'm alright, thank you. My name's Catarrhina. I don't believe I've met you before.."

"I'm Adelle, this is Caitlin, and that's Matt." Adelle introduced.

"It's nice to meet you! What brings you to Coffinwell?" Catarrhina asked.

"We wanted to help the town." Matt answered.

"That's wonderful! Do you have any ideas?" Catarrhina asked smiling.

"Well, we know something like this happened before, but no one knows how they got rid of it. If only someone had recorded it…" Matt sighed.

"Oh! Father has a lot of old documents! The only problem is that they are written in an old script, so no one can read them. My Phlegmy- I mean, Dr. Phlegming, my husband has been deciphering some of them to find the cure." Catarrhina suddenly let out an excited squeal. "Husband is so wonderful to say!"

Matt rolled his eyes and muttered. "Newlyweds…"

"Could we see some of the documents?" Adelle asked.

"Sure, but you won't be able to read them without special training, I'm afraid." Catarrhina replied.

"I can read many ancient scripts." Adelle said.

"You can? That's amazing! I'll take you all to father right away!" Catarrhina exclaimed before leading them away from the church and towards the center of town.

Adelle, Caitlin, and Matt followed Catarrhina to the largest house in town, the Mayor's house. On the way, Caitlin and Matt wondered as to how Adelle can read ancient scripts.

"Was that part of her training or something?" Caitlin whispered.

"That's odd training for a guardian…" Matt said in a hushed voice.

Caitlin nodded. "Yeah… I don't see why Aquila would bother teaching her that…"

Matt paused. "Wait a second… Didn't she say Aquila was several hundred years old and that Opus Minor or whatever his name is was several thousand? You don't think Adelle could be…?"

"I… don't know… But she seems our age!" Caitlin responded.

"And she's so simple minded…" Matt shook his head. "She can't be that old, can she?"

While they continued their discussion, Catarrhina was chatting with Adelle. "Sometimes Phlegmy reads me old poems he's translated from the scripts. They're so lovely!"

"I prefer the stories myself. One author was particularly funny. I remember he had such a quirky personality. It really showed in his writings." Adelle said with a laugh.

"…Is it just me, or did she just sound nostalgic…?" Caitlin said, overhearing their conversation.

Matt stared at the back of Adelle's head. "Now I really gotta know how old she is…"

Catarrhina stopped outside the door to the Mayor's mansion. "I've got to go home and make lunch for Phlegmy. Tell father that I say 'hi!'. It was nice meeting you." She then broke out into a coughing fit. "Oh, excuse me. I inhaled some dust."

The three friends watched Catarrhina enter a house down the road. Once they saw here go inside, Adelle turned and knocked on the mansion door.

"Adelle, how old are you?" Matt blurted.

Adelle seemed slightly startled. "Huh? My age? I'm –"

Adelle was interrupted when a servant opened the door and welcomed them inside. After stating their business, they were led upstairs to a library where the mayor was looking over a worn out book.

"Is that a star? …And that a temple?" The mayor groaned. "Blast it all! I can't even begin to read this script! …But I don't want to go to that man my daughter was foolish enough to wed…"

"Sir, you have visitors." The servant announced before leaving to return to his chores.

"Oh? Who are you?" The mayor asked, looking over the trio.

They introduced themselves and stated their reason for coming. The mayor's face lit up and he handed the book he was trying to read to Adelle.

"This is great! Now I don't have to go to that lousy son-in-law to see his progress!" The mayor beamed.

Adelle started reading the first page silently, but then furrowed her brow. "Um… This is in a weird dialect. I can get the gist, but the details are fuzzy at best… Stupid word endings that make no sense…"

The mayor sighed. "So that's no help… I will have to go to Phlegming, I suppose…" He then stared at them. "Or perhaps YOU could ask him what progress he has made?"

"Okay!" Adelle chirped.

"ARE YOU EVER GOING TO ASK US OUR OPINIONS?" Matt and Caitlin cried out.

"Sorry, but I want to know what the documents say completely…" Adelle responded with a sheepish grin.

When they left the mansion with the book, Adelle led them to the house they saw Catarrhina enter earlier. When they told her that her father sent them to see Dr. Phlegming, she took them to a neighboring building which Phlegming used as a laboratory. Phlegming was sitting as his desk, looking over papers. He smiled at Catarrhina when she came in.

"I finally finished deciphering the documents! Perhaps father-in-law will finally think me worthy of you." Phlegming exclaimed excitedly.

Catarrhina hugged him tightly. "I'm so proud of you, Phlegmy! … Oh! We have guests. Father sent them to see how you were doing."

Phlegming looked over his guests. He had long messy hair, pulled back into a pony tail. He wore square white-rimmed glasses and was obviously in need of a shave.

"It seems father-in-law is finally taking an interest in my work. Oh, for formality's sake alone, I am Dr. Phlegming, an archaeologist. No need to give me your names because I probably won't remember them." Phlegming said, his gaze shifting from the trio to his documents.

"Phlegmy, be nice to our guests." Catarrhina chided.

"Catarrhina, I know how to stop the plague!" Phlegming said with a smile.

"You do? That's amazing!" Catarrhina exclaimed proudly.

Phlegming nodded. "It seems that a century ago, the towns folk sealed away the source in the ruins to the west of towns. The ruins are called the Quarantomb. My theory is that the earthquake damaged the seal and allowed the plague to escape. So, all we need to do is go there and fix the seal."

Catarrhina gave him a loving kiss. "I knew you could figure it out, Phlegmy!"

"One problem. Monster activity has increased and I'm not a fighter, yet I'm the only one who knows how to fix the seal. I can't risk going alone." Phlegming sighed.

"We'll go with you! I've slain hundreds of monsters!" Caitlin chimed.

"I'm a knight of Stornway, I can serve as a bodyguard." Matt offered.

"I want to go too!" Adelle added quickly.

"This is wonderful, Phlegmy! I'll tell Father, and I'm sure he will give you the key to the Quarantomb." Catarrhina coughed again. "Excuse me, I breathed in some more dust."

Catarrhina quickly left the laboratory.

"I will meet you at the town entrance in about an hour or so. It's approximately a day's journey to the Quarantomb. I have some preparations to make." Phlegming said.

Caitlin, Matt, and Adelle nodded. They then made their way to the town entrance, where they encountered Jin. They filled him in on the day's events.

"Hey, I want to come too!" Jin exclaimed.

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? It's kind of a dangerous mission for a priest."

Jin laughed. "Suffice it to say that I wasn't always a priest and that I can handle myself in battle. Besides, my healing magic can come in handy. Those ruins are quite a ways off, and it'll be hard to get medical attention out there."

"Sure! You can come!" Adelle said with a smile.

"Great! I'll be right back! I just need to get my halberd!" Jin said, starting off toward the church.

"Your what? Why would a priest have one of those?" Matt exclaimed.

Jin chuckled. "It's our new 'Be pious or die!' strategy! I have it for protection!"

"Man, I have met the strangest people since I visited Angel Falls…" Caitlin mumbled.


	13. Chapter 13

When they reached the Quarantomb after a day's journey, they saw that the door to the ruins had crumbled in the earthquake.

"This does not bode well for the seal." Phlegming said, examining the entrance.

"We should hurry. The longer we wait, the more damage the plague will cause." Jin urged.

Phlegming nodded. "Alright, follow me."

Phlegming led the way into the ruins. They walked down a stone stairwell and entered a labyrinth. A large stone slab blocked the way to the next room. Ancient letters were carved into the slab.

"It will take a while to decipher this…" Phlegming said as he examined the lettering on the slab.

"Not really. It says: The door shall open when the sorcerer's red light hits the sun and the witch's blue light the water." Adelle said nonchalantly.

"How did you come to learn the ancient script?" Phlegming asked in amazement.

Adelle shrugged. "Just something I picked up."

Jin leans over and whispered to Matt. "Just how old is she?"

"That's what we've been wondering." Matt responded.

"Okay… Well, I see a drawing of a sun and a drawing of a fountain on the door. But what's this about colored light and witches?" Caitlin asked.

Adelle looked from the door to the corridor they had followed. She noticed two mirrors placed at angles at each end of the corridor. Adelle examined the mirrors.

"I think we should split up. See these mirrors? Follow the angles they're pointing at. One group will follow this mirror, and the other group will follow the other mirror." Adelle instructed.

Just then, a metal slime hopped past the group. A strange gleam appeared in Matt's eyes. He drew his sword and chases it down a path in the labyrinth.

"IT MUST DIIIIIIIEEEEEE!" He cried.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" Caitlin shouted as Matt disappeared around a corner. When she turned back to the others, she noticed that Adelle had gone missing. "Crap! Which one am I supposed to look for first?"

"Where are you all going off to? You're supposed to protect me!" Phlegming said, folding his arms.

"I need to find them!" Caitlin exclaimed.

"Actually, you had better stay here. I'm not particularly confident in my ability to guard the doc if we get ambushed by monsters." Jin said.

"Fine… You two will go with me to find them." Caitlin sighed.

A grin spread across Jin's face. "Okay! This dungeon won't seem nearly as gloomy with the company of such a lovely lady."

Caitlin stared at him for a moment before saying, "You know what. I'll take Phlegming, you stay here."

Caitlin dragged Phlegming down a corridor before Jin could respond. Jin sighed and leaned against the wall. A mummy came around the corner, making its way slowly towards him. Jin smirked as he pulls out a long knife from a hidden pocket inside his robe. He threw it, striking the mummy between the eyes. He then took his halberd in hand and sliced the mummy to shreds.

"I was hoping that'd be a bit more challenging. It's been a while since I've had a fight." Jin sighed.

Meanwhile, Matt had slaughtered about ten metal slimes by now. He spotted another one cowering in the corner. His eyes gleamed as he stepped toward it, preparing his special metal slash attack. The metal slime fled for its life.

"DIEEEEEE!" Matt shouted, giving chase.

Matt pursued it through the labyrinth. It narrowly dodged his attacks several times. Finally, it spotted Adelle and sensing that she was a Celestrian, jumped into her arms from around a corner.

"Oh! Hello there, little guy!" Adelle said with a surprised smile.

The metal slime trembled in fear as Matt ran up.

"PUT IT DOWN! IT'S MINE!" He ordered, staring menacingly at the metal slime.

"No way! It's so cute! I won't let you kill it!" Adelle said, turning away from Matt in order to shield the metal slime.

"Then I'll just kill you too!" Matt said with a crazed look. "You're a thousand years old! You've got to be worth a ton of experience points!"

He then drew his sword and chased Adelle around the perimeter of the room.

Adelle looked over her shoulder at him as she fled. "Hey, you whippersnapper! I'll have you know that I'm not a day over –"

She was cut off when Caitlin tackled Matt pinning him to the ground.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Caitlin shouted.

"She won't hand over the metal slime!" Matt retorted.

"I will never let you harm Sir Frederick!" Adelle exclaimed.

"…You named that thing?" Caitlin asked incredulously.

"No, that's his name. He told me." Adelle answered.

"IT DOESN'T TALK!" Matt and Caitlin cried in unison.

Phlegming cleared his throat. "It seems that she has bonded with that creature, so there is no use in trying to kill it. Let's just hurry on to fix the seal."

Adelle looked around and did a quick head count. "Hey, where's Jin?"

Just then, a red beam of light shot past them reflecting off the mirrors in the corridor. Jin's voice echoed throughout the labyrinth. "FOUND THE SORCERER! OH ****! YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME YOU ******* SPIRIT? TASTE MY HALBERD, *****!"

"…And… he's a priest?" Phlegming asked once the profanity finished echoing.

Matt shook his head. "That's what he claims…"

Adelle uncovered her ears. "Such language!"

"I suppose you Celestrians don't swear much, do you?" Caitlin remarked.

Adelle tilted her head. "We swear as much as anyone. One time on April Fool's day, Columba rigged up a bucket of ice water to fall down when Aquila opened a door… You should have heard the things he said!" She laughed.

Suddenly, a blue light reflected off another set of mirrors. A loud rumble could be heard in the distance.

"FOUND THE WITCH STATUE!" Jin's voice echoed in a triumphant laugh. "**** IT ALL! WHERE THE **** **** DO YOU ******* KEEP COMING FROM? BURN IN **** MOTHER *******!"

"…Are you SURE he's a priest?" Phlegming asked again.

Caitlin nodded. "…A very scary priest…"

"Remind me not to confess anything to him..." Matt muttered.

Adelle began coughing again. "We should go check on him."

She hurried through the labyrinth towards the ruckus. Matt, Caitlin, and Phlegming followed quickly behind her.

"Is it just me or did her cough suddenly sound worse?" Caitlin commented.

"She has it too?" Phlegming asked.

"Yeah, but she got it recently, so she should be alright." Matt responded.

They found Jin leaning against a wall surrounded by the corpses of the monsters he had just slain. He was unscathed, but he was completely pale and his breathing was troubled. When he looked over at them, he stifled a cough.

"Hey… Found the statues… There's a switch on the back of them… It turns on the beams of light…" Jin said, pointing to the statue.

"That's awesome! Thanks!" Adelle said, finishing her thanks with a hacking fit.

"…You two shouldn't have come. You're both sick." Caitlin said.

"Heh… I can still fight." Jin said, gesturing to the defeated monsters. "I just had a bad spell all of a sudden…"

"Huh, that's odd… I felt worse all of a sudden too… Right after I heard that rumbling in the distance…" Adelle said.

"The seal must be in that room then." Phlegming surmised.

They made their way to the once blocked off room. It was a large stone room with a jar in the center of the floor. The jar had a section of it broken into pieces. Phlegming examined the jar.

"We're in luck. The part with the seal drawn on it is intact. I can fix this pretty easily." Phlegming grinned.

"You better reconsider that plan, partner! YEEEHAW! The Ragin' Contagion is gonna keep on ragin', ya hear me?" A voice echoed.

A neon purple blob flew into the room. It had a large eye in the middle of the blob and two smaller eyes on two tentacle-like appendages. Green slime oozed out of its mouth like a tongue. Its body seemed almost fluid.

"Hey! You guys better do your job and protect me while I patch the seal!" Phlegming ordered.

The Ragin' Contagion made its way towards Phlegming. Caitlin leapt towards the monster, bringing her staff down upon it. The staff went straight through the contagion.

"It's the plague given life, there's no way that's going to work!" Jin called.

"Oh, NOW you tell me!" Caitlin shouted.

"Then how the hell are we supposed to fight it?" Matt demanded.

"I dunno! It's a disease." Jin shrugged.

Adelle thought for a moment and got an idea. She started up her Hot Lick attack. The Ragin' Contagion shrunk away as the flames shot towards him. He turned his attention away from Phlegming to the bodyguards.

"Oh yeah… Diseases can't take high temperatures; that's why we get fevers." Jin said, watching the flames.

"My weapon should do perfectly, then. It's called the Fire Blade" Matt said with a smirk.

He drew his sword. The blade suddenly burst into flames. Matt slashed at the Ragin' Contagion. The Ragin' Contagion shrieked in agony. Matt kept up the assault, careful to avoid Adelle's hot lick attacks. Jin removed a bottle of whiskey from his robes.

"I just remembered, alcohol can serve as a disinfectant… ****, this was going to be my victory celebration." Jin muttered.

Jin snuck up behind the Ragin' Contagion and poured the whiskey on it. The contagion shrieked yet again. The three continued their assault while Caitlin was forced to stand back and watch, having no attacks strong against diseases.

"This is easy!" Matt laughed, slicing the Contagion again.

The contagion retreated to a far wall of the room. Adelle prepared another burst of flame, when the Ragin' Contagion shot one of its appendages at her. The tentacle grabbed her by the face and lifted her into the air in front of itself. Matt was forced to hold off his attack out of fear of hitting Adelle. Jin found that he had used up all the whiskey and had no more options for attack. The green slime oozing from the contagion's mouth moved along the tentacle and covered Adelle. Adelle's energy drained and she was unable to retaliate. Jin collapsed to his knees in a coughing fit as his fever increased dramatically.

The Ragin' Contagion let out a wicked laugh. "It seems that I've got two of you buckaroos under my reins."

Matt tried to attack the contagion, but was forced to hold back when the contagion moved Adelle in front of the attack. Caitlin went to Jin's side to see if she could be of assistance.

"Hey! Are you alright?" Caitlin asked.

"Yeah…_I_ am… but…" Jin looked over at Adelle and noticed how still and pale she had become. "Never mind… Can you create a distraction?"

Caitlin thought for a moment. She wasn't sure how she could distract the contagion when her wooden staff did nothing to him. It wasn't as though she had an effective fire weapon like Matt…. That was when an idea struck her.

"No problem!" Caitlin said.

Caitlin took her staff and placed the end on Matt's flaming sword. The tip of her staff began to char and soon a flame engulfed the tip. Caitlin swung her staff at the contagion while Matt slashed at it from the other side. The contagion busied himself with dodging their attacks while remaining in control of his hostage. He didn't notice Jin remove a pair of knives from his robe. Jin's hands blurred as he sent the knives hurtling into the contagion's two smaller eyes. Clutching his halberd, Jin leapt at the contagion and pierced its main eye, causing it to scream in agony. The contagion dropped Adelle, whom Jin caught and took to a corner of the room.

"Done! Get it over to the jar!" Phlegming exclaimed as he finished fixing the jar.

Using their flaming weapons, Matt and Caitlin prodded the blinded contagion to the jar. Phlegming recited an incantation from his ancient text. The Ragin' Contagion was then sucked into the jar. Jin's fever instantly vanished.

"Hey, is your friend okay?" Phlegming asked once the plague was sealed.

Jin stayed in the corner with Adelle stretched out on the floor. His back hid her face from the others.

"Yeah… She's fine." Jin said.

"That's good to hear. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to explore these ruins a bit more before heading home." Phlegming said.

Phlegming went down a flight of stone steps in the corner of the room. Matt and Caitlin grinned in relief of their victory. Caitlin extinguished the flame from what was left of her staff and sighed at its loss. A faint chanting sounded through the room. Caitlin and Matt realized that the chanting was coming from Jin and went to see what he was doing.

"What's all that chanting for?" Caitlin asked.

Jin ignored her and continued, moving to keep Adelle out of their view. Matt and Caitlin peered over his shoulder. Their eyes widened when they saw her. A cold realization flowed over them.

"ADELLE!" Caitlin cried, her hands trembling. "She can't be… Not after all the things I've seen her survive..."

Matt checked her pulse, then looked away. "She was so close to returning home…"

"What are you two talking about? You sound like she's dead." Stella said, rolling her eyes.

"Stella… She is…" Matt said quietly.

Sir Frederick, the metal slime went over to Adelle and nudged her, yet she didn't move. Sir Frederick shed a small tear.

"She's not dead! She's my friend! She can't die!" Caitlin shouted, shaking Adelle. "WAKE UP! THIS ISN'T FUNNY! WAKE UP! YOU HAVE TO!"

Jin pried Caitlin's grip off of Adelle. "Shut up so I can focus!"

He resumed his chanting. Suddenly, Adelle's body glowed and color returned to her face. She blinked and sat up.

"Yay! I've got my halo and wings back!" Adelle exclaimed with a grin.

"No! Not yay! You died!" Matt shouted.

"I did? Huh… Guess that'd explain why I wasn't fighting anymore… So… Does that mean you're all dead too?" Adelle said, sighing when she discovered that her wings and halo were once again missing.

Jin chuckled. "Nah, I just brought you back from the dead."

"Oh... Hey! You know Zing! That's awesome!" Adelle exclaimed.

"Zing? What the hell is zing?" Caitlin asked.

"It's a spell that brings people back to life." Adelle answered.

Matt turned to Jin and demanded, "Why didn't you tell us you could do that?"

"Because zing has its limitations. It only works within an hour of the person's death… And even then, it probably won't do a thing. If I tell people that I have it, they get false hope. Then it becomes a double disappointment when it fails." Jin sighed.

"That makes sense." Adelle said.

Caitlin grabbed Adelle's shoulders and shook her. "DON'T EVER SCARE US LIKE THAT AGAIN!"

"ACK! I didn't do it on purpose! I swear!" Adelle said, getting quite dizzy.

After a few hours the group left the ruins with Phlegming in company. After a day's journey, they reached Coffinwell. They decided to accompany Phlegming to his house to tell Catarrhina the good news before returning to the inn. Adelle and Jin were the first to enter the house. They spotted Catarrhina lying motionless on a couch. They knew right away what had happened. Matt and Caitlin followed them and stopped as they also spotted Catarrhina. Only Phlegming hadn't realize what had befallen Catarrhina.

"Catarrhina, wake up, darling! I finally did it! I helped save the town! Your father will certainly think me worthy of you now!" Phlegming said with a smile. "Catarrhina…?"

Phlegming gently shook his wife's shoulders and called her name, until a sudden chill went up his spine. He knew. He dropped to his knees and threw his arms around his wife.

"Catarrhina… NO! Not you! The disease couldn't have taken you! This can't be! I sealed it away! You shouldn't have…" His ramblings paused for a moment as the realization sunk in deeper. "I was too late, wasn't I…? …You were dead by time I sealed it… Probably dead by the time I reached the ruins… Why didn't you tell me you were sick? If I had known… I might have worked harder… worked faster... I might have been able to save you… Why, Catarrhina? Why did it have to take you?"


	14. Chapter 14

The crowd outside the church slowly dispersed and the graveyard emptied as the funeral came to an end. Catarrhina's parents sadly left their daughter's grave.

"I can't believe that Phlegming didn't come to the funeral! How can he not attend?" The mayor said bitterly.

Stella looked about them. "The mood here flapping sucks! We'll never get benevolescense with this mood!"

"Stella! How can you think of benevolescense when Catarrhina died?" Caitlin exclaimed.

"Benevolescense is the whole reason we came out here! And we have very important matters to attend to at the Observatory!" Stella retorted.

Matt sighed as he looked at the fresh grave. "Not much we can do either way. Best thing we can do is head back to Stornway and look for another town to help."

"But that could take forever!" Stella complained.

"We don't have a choice." Matt responded.

"Alright, but can we wait until tomorrow to leave? I want to stay here a bit longer…" Adelle requested.

"Why?" Caitlin asked.

"I don't think a Celestrian can bring his or herself to leave when a town is as broken as this one." Jin said, standing behind group.

"Ack! How long have you been standing there?" Caitlin cried out.

Matt stared at Jin and thought, "I didn't even hear him come up… I've trained my ears to hear someone approaching, no matter how softly. I'm sure Caitlin has too… So, how did he manage to sneak up on us…?"

"Hi, Jin!" Adelle said happily.

Jin draped his arms over Caitlin and Adelle's shoulders. "Hello, my lovely lasses! Care to wash away your troubles with me? I know a wonderful little pub on the other side of town…"

"Jin! Stop flirting! How many times do I have to tell you that priests are to be celibate?" The head priest said as he approached them.

Jin laughed. "I will be just as soon as I find out what that term means!"

"It means no women." Caitlin informed him.

"What? No women?" Jin gasped.

The priest shook his head and sighed. "Jin, didn't you wonder why myself and the others are not married?"

"I thought it was because you were all sticks in the mud! I didn't think there was an actual rule about it!" Jin exclaimed, a complete look of dismay on his face. "I'm getting a drink!" He mumbled curses to himself as he headed down the hill.

"No you won't, Jin! You need to remain sober!" The priest grabbed Jin and dragged him into the church.

A nun who stood nearby watched the scene shook her head and laughed. "Believe it or not, his character has greatly improved since he came here."

"What? That's an improvement?" Matt and Caitlin blurted.

"What did he do before he came here?" Adelle asked.

"I don't really know; he doesn't talk about it. I declare, I never saw such a sinner as him. I can only assume that he was involved in very shady business before he came to Coffinwell." The nun answered.

"And what caused you to let him become a priest?" Matt pressed.

"I spoke to the head priest about that. Apparently Jin's life was saved by a miracle. After that, he traveled around looking for work as a priest. Only the head priest here had patience enough to take Jin under his wing." She responded.

"Wonder what miracle that was?" Adelle said mostly to herself.

"I honestly haven't the slightest clue. Now, if you'll excuse me, there is work I must attend to." The nun said before leaving.

"Good lord! I'd hate to see what he behaved like before he came here!" Matt exclaimed.

"Actually, I'm almost curious enough to want to see that…" Caitlin muttered.

Adelle shook her head. "Oh c'mon, he's not that bad, you two."

"Yes he is!" Matt and Caitlin shouted.

"But he saved my life… And he went to visit those who caught the contagion, even though he knew he would catch it too if he did. He's not all bad." Adelle said.

"I guess you have a poi… HOLY -!" Matt's eyes widened and he turned pale as he pointed to a shady spot under a weeping willow.

There, hovering above the ground was the glowing figure of Catarrhina. Adelle and Caitlin grinned and rushed over to Catarrhina's ghost.

"Catarrhina! What are you doing here?" Adelle asked.

"Well… um… I appear to be dead…" Catarrhina said, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Yeah… We know… Sorry about that…" Caitlin said.

"Oh, it's alright! I don't mind a bit." Catarrhina said with a smile.

"Then why are you still here? Why don't you move on to the next life?" Caitlin pressed.

"I'm worried about Phlegmy." Catarrhina answered.

Adelle tilted her head. "You are? Why? What's wrong with him?"

"Well, you see… I want him to cheer up. I don't like it when he's sad… And, I also… It's always been my dream for him to get to know the other townsfolk and for them to get to know him…" Catarrhina said.

"So you can't move on until that dream is realized?" Adelle asked.

Caitlin sighed upon seeing Catarrhina nod. "This is going to take forever…"

"Actually, I think I know how to do it." Catarrhina said cheerfully. "I want him to visit all of those who were sick. That way he can get to know them better."

"Alright! Consider it done!" Adelle said.

"Again with not consulting me!" Caitlin groaned.

Adelle raised an eyebrow. "Would you refuse her last request?"

"There's something morbid about what you just said…" Caitlin muttered.

Adelle smiled. "Okay, so it's settled! No worries Catarrhina! Now, we just need to grab Jin to make sure we visit all of those who were sick."

Catarrhina thanked them and vanished. Adelle headed into the church to grab Jin. Caitlin shook Matt by the shoulders until he comes out of shock.

"Th… that was a ghost!" Matt shouted.

"Yeah, we told you that they exist." Caitlin said.

"But I couldn't see them before! So why now?" Matt exclaimed.

Caitlin paused. "That is odd… I couldn't see faeries or ghosts either before…"

"Before meeting Adelle?" Matt interjected.

"Yeah… But not everyone who comes in contact with her sees these things…" Caitlin added.

"So what makes us different?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm going to go to the observatory with her when she returns home. I want answers."

"I think I will join you. I wish to know as well."

Adelle returned with Jin and the group headed to Phlegming's lab. When they tried to open the door, they found that it was locked tight. They tried knocking, but no one answered. Catarrhina's ghost appeared beside them.

"That won't work; you'll need to use our special knock." Catarrhina said. "I'll show you how."

While Catarrhina proceeded to teach the special knock to Adelle, Matt watched for a reaction to her ghost from Jin. Jin stared directly at Catarrhina and seemed to be listening to the instructions she gave Adelle; however, he didn't seem bothered by the fact that Catarrhina was a ghost.

Matt went over to Jin and whispered. "Hey, aren't you shocked to see a ghost?"

Jin shook his head. "No. Not really. I've seen them for years… Kind of like how I was able to tell Adelle was a Celestrian. I think the two abilities are related somehow."

Adelle knocked on the lab door in the way Catarrhina described. Phlegming's voice could be heard from the other side.

"C…Catarrhina? Is that really you?" Phlegming cried out as he threw open the door. He stared at the group for a few moments, the hope fading from his face. A vein throbbed in his forehead. "HOW DARE YOU PLAY SUCH A TERRIBLE TRICK! USING CATARRHINA'S AND MY SPECIAL KNOCK LIKE THAT!"

"Phlegmy! Don't yell at our friends!" Catarrhina chided.

Jin grabbed Phlegming by the wrist and dragged him out into the street, shutting the door to the lab behind them. "We're going to fulfill your late wife's last wish."

"And how would you know what that would be?" Phlegming shouted.

"We see ghosts. She can't move on to the afterlife until her last wish is fulfilled, so she's a ghost right now. She's hovering about six inches to your left and is staring at you lovingly while scolding you about being polite to friends." Jin said bluntly.

Phlegming stared at him as if he had grown a second head. "…And… you expect me to believe that the four of you can just randomly see ghosts?"

"No, of course not! Only three of us randomly see ghosts. Adelle there is a Celestrian, so she can naturally see ghosts." Jin said with a straight face.

"Why are you telling him all this?" Matt shouted.

"What? I'm trying to be honest here! Don't dampen my attempts to reform!" Jin shot back defensively.

Phlegming stared at Adelle. "You… are… a… CELESTRIAN?"

"Yep." Adelle answered.

"…I don't believe it." Phlegming said.

"I know! I'll prove it to you!" Adelle said as she ran off down the street.

"Where is she going now?" Caitlin moaned.

A couple minutes later, they spotted Adelle climbing onto the inn's roof, three stories above them. Adelle waved enthusiastically at them.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP THERE? YOU'LL BREAK EVERY BONE IN YOUR BODY IF YOU FALL FROM THAT HEIGHT!" Phlegming shouted up to her.

"No I won't!" Adelle called back with a mischievous grin.

"Dear Almighty, please tell me she isn't going to do what I think she is about to…" Matt muttered.

"ADELLE! GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!" Caitlin demanded.

"OKAY! LOOK OUT BELOW!" Adelle cried.

Adelle did a running leap off the roof, hurtling herself toward the ground at full speed. She didn't attempt to break her fall and crashed into the ground. Phlegming stared in a stunned horror.

Adelle suddenly hopped up and grinned. "See! I'm sturdier than humans!"

Caitlin grabbed Adelle's shoulders and shook her violently. "NO THROWING YOURSELF OFF ROOFS!"

"Why not? I'm not gonna get hurt or anything... I mean, I've had way worse falls…" Adelle said, her eyes starting to swirl from dizziness.

"…I am… convinced… mostly…" Phlegming stammered.

"Alright! Time for the tour of those who were ill!" Jin announced.

"…That was my Catarrhina's last wish?" Phlegming asked.

"Kind of… You'll see soon enough." Jin responded.

Jin led the group on the route he had taken to visit all the ailing during the plague. The first stop was at a house where an old couple lived. The old woman was busy cleaning dishes when they came in.

"Oh, hello Jin! It's so kind of you to visit us again." The old woman greeted.

The old man could be heard coughing from the next room.

Phlegming's eyes widen."How can that be? We sealed the contagion! Everyone should be cured!"

The old woman laughed. "It's alright sir. As soon as he got over the contagion, he came down with a normal cold. I told that man to wear warmer pajamas, but does he listen to me?"

Phlegming breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness…"

"Well, we just stopped in to make sure that everything was alright. I'm afraid it's time for us to leave now. Take care, Ma'am!" Jin said.

"I will. Thank you, for visiting. You are welcome any time. And Dr. Phlegming, thank you so much for saving my husband." The old woman said with a slight bow to Phlegming.

"Y… You're welcome." Phlegming responded.

The group left and visited many more houses. The sun set long before they finished the tour. They eventually entered a house where the man there hugged them tightly upon there entering of the house.

Tears streamed down the man's cheeks. "Thank you! All of you! Especially you, Dr. Phlegming!"

Jin laughed. "I told you your prayers would be answered."

"Yes… I know… But I was so scared… My wife and my child… They were on the verge of death… And there was nothing I could do to help them… I was so terrified…" The man said trembling.

"Both your wife and your child were ill?" Phlegming asked.

The man nodded. "They are all I have… I don't know what I would have done if… if…"

"There, there… It's alright now. They are both well again." Adelle soothed, patting the man's back.

"May we see Susan?" Jin asked.

"Yes… But please be quiet… She's asleep…" The man said.

The group went upstairs and silently peeked into a little girl's room. The girl, Susan, was fast asleep in her bed. The first truly restful sleep she had had in a couple weeks.

"A child this small came had the disease…?" Phlegming said, his voice hushed.

"Yes… She was the youngest child who caught it to survive." Jin responded.

Phlegming closed the door to the room. "I've seen enough…"

"There's still one more person who was sick that you need to meet." Jin said.

Phlegming sighed. "Alright."

This time, Jin led the group to the inn. They entered and make their way to one of the guest rooms in the back. They knocked on the door and a young blonde woman dressed in a green and black bunny girl suit. She ushered them into the room. There was an old man sleeping in one of the twin beds.

"Shhh! My Snuggle-lumps and I are on our honeymoon!" The woman said, shushing them.

The entire group stared at her in complete and utter shock. They turned their heads slowly toward Jin with a very disturbed look on their faces. They saw that he is as pale as the rest of them.

"I didn't know, honest!" Jin exclaimed.

"Know what?" The woman asked.

"N… nothing…" Adelle stammered.

"Well, I have a lot to thank you for, Dr. Phlegming! I was terribly ill! I thought I would never get better, but my Snuggle-lumps stayed with me and assured me that it would be alright. And you proved him right! Why, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have gotten to spend my honeymoon with Snuggle-lumps!" The woman said, smiling brightly at Phlegming.

"Um…Well… I'm glad I could be of assistance…" Phlegming said, slowly coming out of his shock.

The woman threw her arms around Phlegming. "I'll thank you with a kiss - just don't tell Snuggle-lumps!"

"Hey! Get your hands off my Phlegmy you stupidly dressed woman with your silly ideas! He's mine!" Catarrhina shouted, throwing a tantrum.

Phlegming turned red and pushed the woman away from him. "Th-that won't be necessary. I really must be getting home now."

"You tell her, Phlegmy!" Catarrhina cheered.

As the group left, Catarrhina stuck her tongue out at the woman.

When they finally made it back to the lab, Phlegming stopped and turned to them. "Thank you… All of you. I've spent so much time focusing on showing up Father-in-Law and on my research that I didn't see what was occurring around me… And I now understand a bit better what my Catarrhina went through with the disease…"

"Oh Phlegmy…" Catarrhina said as tears came to her eyes.

"…You know… This town doesn't have a school system… And there are a lot of kids… I think I'll start a school here. I might even teach Father-in-law to read the old manuscripts." Phlegming chuckled.

Catarrhina's eyes sparkled. "Yes! Daddy will love that! And you can get to know everyone better by starting a school! You are so wonderful Phlegmy!"

"Catarrhina thinks that's a good idea." Adelle grinned.

"She… she's here with us…? Right now?" Phlegming asked quietly.

"Yeah. She's been with us the whole time." Caitlin answered.

"…Could… could you tell her that I love her and that I'm sorry that I wasn't able to save her… I miss her terribly…" Phlegming said.

"I love you too Phlegmy! And don't be sorry, you saved the town! And, I don't mind being dead. Floating is fun!" Catarrhina said with a smile.

"She says she loves you too. And that you should cheer up. And that floating is fun." Jin said, serving as translator.

Phlegming blinked and then burst into laughter. "That sounds just like her… I'm glad she's having fun. Tell her that I'll be alright and she should move on now. No one deserves a rest as much as her."

"We don't have to give her the message, she's listening to you." Adelle said.

"Oh? Well then, I love you Catarrhina! Please take care…. I'll miss you… so very much…" Phlegming said softly.

"I'll miss you too, Phlegmy." Catarrhina lightly kissed Phlegming on the lips before rising into the air and vanishing in a bright blue light.

Although Phlegming was unaware of what she did, he felt warm and happy. He bid the group good night with a pleasant smile on his face.

The next day, the town had a far happier atmosphere than it had the night before. People noisily walked about the streets, enjoying the fresh air for the first time in weeks. Local businesses reopened and people stocked up on supplies they had been too scared to fetch for fear of catching the plague. Children played in the streets and yards.

"Would you look at that? Carriage loads of benevolescense ripe for the taking!" Stella exclaimed. "This should be enough to get that old metal heap of a train off the ground!"

"You mean… I get to go home now?" Adelle asked, a gleam in her eyes.

"Yep! This ought to be more than plenty benevolescense!" Stella said.

"Did you hear that? I'm finally going home!" Adelle cried out, bouncing about joyfully.

"That's wonderful! I can still come visit right?" Caitlin asked.

"Of course you can!" Adelle replied.

"Is it alright if I come along as well?" Matt asked.

"Yep!" Adelle responded.

"Me too?" Jin asked.

Matt and Caitlin jumped. "Ack! When did you get here?"

"Yep! If you want." Adelle said.

Jin grinned. "Great! Because, I've decided to become your disciple!"

"Her what?" Matt and Caitlin shouted.

"My what?" Adelle exclaimed.

"Your disciple! See, the whole reason I became a priest is because a Celestrian saved my life. He told me to repent and change my ways to repay him for saving me, so I decided to become a priest. I mean, what better way to repent, right? Well, it's not really working out for me, so I figure if I stick around you, I'll be a decent citizen in no time!" Jin explained.

"Yeah… Keep telling yourself that…" Matt murmured.

"Um… Well, we'd be glad to have you along… And you saved my life after all… But, you don't have to be my disciple…" Adelle said.

"Yes! I am now the disciple of a Celestrian! Go me!" Jin proclaimed with a triumphant laugh.

"For someone who is supposed to be your disciple, he sure doesn't listen to you…" Matt said.

"Yeah… This'll be interesting…" Adelle laughed.

"So now what? We go to the Observatory?" Jin asked.

"Well, I thought we could stop at Stornway for a couple day's rest before making the journey. I want to say good bye to Erinn and Patty too before I leave." Adelle suggested.

"I want to do that too." Caitlin added.

"I need to check in with Princess Simona and give her a mission update… As well as inform the royal guard that I'll be taking a leave to go 'questing' with you guys." Matt said.

"So what are you all flapping waiting for? Let's get to Stornway!" Stella declared.


	15. Chapter 15

Caitlin sat on her bed at the Quester's Rest Inn, staring sadly at her ruined staff. It had been like an old friend to her for the past few years while she had journeyed alone practicing her martial arts. Little did she know that she was being watched. Adelle and Jin stood outside the door to the room, peering in at her.

"You sure you know how to cheer her up?" Jin asked in a hushed voice.

"Yep! All we need to do is get ahold of the alchemy ingredients on this list." Adelle whispered.

"Alright, well, we should be able to find them here in Stornway. They sell just about everything here." Jin said, walking away from the door.

"Good… Will you take me around to the different shops? I tend to get a little lost…" Adelle asked, following him.

"Sure thing." Jin said.

The two headed out of the inn and into the market place. Adelle looked at the shopping list which was divided into two sections. The first half had the "ingredients" she had mentioned earlier and the other half had provisions for the last leg of their trip to the Observatory. Jin looked at the list and divided it in half. He took the provision half for himself.

"I'll get these items from the general store. You go along the stalls there and see what items you can find from your half. Don't leave this street and you won't get lost. Okay?" He said.

Adelle nodded. "Right! Want to meet up back here in an hour?"

"An hour. Got it." Jin said. He waved as he went off to the general store. He went around and easily found the items on the list, including a few canteens and some dried fruits. He also bought something not on the list, a bottle of whiskey. After purchasing all the items, he went out to wait for Adelle to return. As he sat on a bench waiting, a sickening feeling started to wash over him.

"I shouldn't have bought that bottle… I said I was going to reform and this isn't reforming… Lord, I don't like this feeling… Wait! This feeling! This must be guilt! And guilt means my conscience is working! Yes! My reforming is going great!" He thought with a grin. He then looked back at the bottle. "So, what to do with this? I already paid for it, and wasting food is a sin, right? … Maybe it's not, but I'll play it safe and say that it is. So, to not sin, I will have to drink it! But then Adelle will scold me, Matt will make a face, and Caitlin will beat me with what's left of her stick…"

His gaze then fell on the canteens he just bought and an idea struck him. He took one of the canteens and filled it with the whiskey. He took one of his knives and carved some notches onto to the canteen to mark it. Now, he could be certain that he grabs the right one when they are handed out to the rest of the group and they wouldn't be wiser.

"Hi!" Adelle greeted as she rejoined them.

"Oh! Hey!" Jin said, quickly hiding the empty whiskey bottle behind him. "Find everything you needed?"

"Yeah, all but the flurry feathers. The merchant was charging so much…" She answered.

Jin then noticed that Adelle's satchel was rustling. "What is in there?"

"Uh… nothing…" Adelle answered, diverting her gaze as the large satchel squirmed. She turned her back to him and peered into the satchel. She then began whispering to it.

Jin leaned over her shoulder and saw what it was. "I thought we decided that it was best for him to stay in the Quarantomb where you found him… I mean, Matt does go insane when he sees them…"

Adelle sighed and took the metal slime out of the bag. She looked at Jin with large, pleading eyes. "But he's so little and defenseless… He kept begging to come with us…"

The metal slime looked at Jin with same beseeching gaze. Jin gave in and sighed. "Alright… Just don't let Matt find out."

Adelle cheered. "Yay! You get to stay, Sir Frederick!" She then began dancing with the metal slime.

Jin chuckled a bit. "Okay, now that that's settled, I'm going to get that merchant to lower his price and get those feathers. Stay here and guard our stuff."

"But he won't sell… I tried everything…" Adelle said.

"I doubt you've tried my methods." Jin replied with an uninterpretable expression.

Adelle stared at him for a moment. "You ARE going to PAY for it right…?"

Jin looked innocently at her. "What? Me? He will be compensated for his goods. I won't steal."

Adelle watched him walk off to the merchant stalls, deciding it best to not question what his definition of "compensation" was. She sat down by their supplies with Sir Frederick and waited. It was then that she realized that she her throat was parched. That was when she spotted the canteens. She picked up the top one and examined the scratches Jin had cut into it.

"This one is damaged, so I'll keep it as mine." She thought as she shook the canteen, sloshing its contents. "Oh! How sweet of Jin! He put water in them already!"

Her parched throat was really bothering her, so she opened the canteen and took a large swig. She had swallowed the drink before the flavor hit her. Her eyes widened, and an utterly stunned expression crossed her face. Slowly her cheeks turned red as a warm feeling washed over her. Her eyes glazed.

Jin returned to her, proudly carrying a bag of the final ingredient. He stopped when he saw her juggling the metal slime and giggling incessantly. He stood there in confusion until he saw the canteen at her feet. He rushed to her and rescued Frederick from being used as a ball any longer.

"Aww… I wasn't done…" Adelle pouted.

"What the hell were you drinking for?" Jin exclaimed.

"I was thirsty!" She replied with a giggle.

Jin groaned. "Matt and Caitlin are going to kill me!"

A shadow fell upon Jin as a voice said, "Oh? And why would that be…?"

Jin turned to see Matt standing behind him with a stern gaze. Matt looked from Adelle to Jin and then back to Adelle. He paused for a moment before grabbing the collar of Jin's robes.

"You got her drunk? I leave for a couple hours and you get her drunk!" Matt shouted, a lethal glint in his eyes.

"I didn't do it! I swear!" Jin protested.

"LIAR!" Matt yelled, reaching for his sword.

Jin closed his eyes preparing for Matt to strike them. He waited and waited, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes to see what was stopping Matt. Matt was searching desperately for his missing sword. Their jaws dropped when they found it. Adelle had her head tipped back and her mouth open. She held the sword above her with the point hovering over her mouth, endeavoring to perform a sword swallowing act. The boys charged her. Jin tackled Adelle to the ground while Matt wrestled his sword from her hand. Jin sat on her to pin her and keep her from getting into anymore danger.

"What the hell were you thinking?" He yelled.

"I wanted to try it! It looked fun!" She answered with a hiccup.

Matt sheathed his sword and shook his head. "Let's get her back to the inn before she decides to jump off a roof while using hot lick."

Adelle's eyes sparkled. "That'd be awesome!"

"No it wouldn't!" The boys snapped.

Jin got off of Adelle and threw her over his shoulder. He followed Matt back to the Quester's Rest Inn while Matt carried the supplies. Sir Frederick secretly trailed behind them, hiding from Matt. When they returned to the inn, Patty greeted them. Jin explained what happened to Patty.

Patty laughed. "Ah, sounds like an interesting morning. Well, I know just the thing to return her to her senses."

Patty went to the bar and began whipping up some concoction. Jin set Adelle in a chair at one of the tables and watched her carefully with Matt until Patty brought the drink over to them. She handed it to Adelle and had her drink it. Adelle sniffed the glass and made a face.

Patty giggled. "Doesn't taste much better than it smells… but it'll do you a world of good. Bottoms up."

With that, Patty poured the concoction down Adelle's throat. Adelle's eyes bulged and her face turned about ten different colors within a minute. She curled up into a tight little ball and moaned. Patty rubbed Adelle's back for a couple of minutes until Adelle finally uncurled. Adelle's eyes lost their glassiness and her overall demeanor was much more sober.

"That… was vile…" She groaned.

"It's supposed to be." Patty answered with a smile.

Adelle looked at her and then smiled. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Patty replied.

"Hey, Patty… can I get the recipe for that concoction? I want to use it on Jin if he starts drinking." Matt said.

Patty grinned. "Sure thing."

Matt and Patty went to the bar counter so she could show him how it's made. Jin snatches Matt's sword from its sheath and takes the supplies up to his room at the inn. Adelle grabs the Crackpot and follows him.

"We still need Caitlin's staff…" Adelle said as she started getting things set up.

"No worries, I'll get it. Why don't you make your new fan while I get the staff? I believe she's taking a nap right now." Jin said.

"Alright. Good luck, she's a light sleeper." Adelle said.

Jin nodded and left the room. Adelle put her fan and several other items into the Crackpot who started shaking and making bubbling noises.

"I'll toil and trouble myself to make this item." Crackpot said.

"Thank you." Adelle smiled.

After a few minutes a chime sounded from within Crackpot. "There! Your Gale Force Fan is done. It will send out whirlwinds to deal with your opponents. It can also cut through thick hides of monsters, all while being light weight. A superb weapon."

"Thank you! It's beautiful!" Adelle exclaimed as she examined the fan. It was made of brilliant blue crystal and had white swirling patterns on it.

Jin returned carrying Caitlin's charred staff. He looked between Crackpot and the staff. "Are we supposed to fit this thing inside of him? It's over six times his height…"

"Don't worry about that. A sorcerer created me, remember?" The Crackpot replied.

Jin shrugged. "If you say so…"

Jin stuck the staff into the top of the Crackpot. Amazingly, he was able to put the staff all the way in and still fit all the other ingredients in as well. He closed the lid and waited for Crackpot to finish his work. When the chime sounded, they removed the now light blue, ornamented staff. The top ornament was too sharp to even touch.

"The Catatonic Cosh is unsurpassed by any other staff. Your friend will be pleased." Crackpot announced.

"Yeah! This thing is awesome!" Adelle said, admiring the staff.

"Now, to upgrade Matt's blade as he requested." Jin said.

They put Matt's fire blade into Crackpot and tossed in some dried lumps of lava. Crackpot finished his work turning the fire blade into the inferno blade – a sword that could issue flames a hundred times hotter than a blacksmith's furnace.

Jin grinned. "Matt is gonna love this thing."

"Thank you Crackpot! You've done excellent work as always. But I think it's time we return you to the front desk, so Erinn won't get to missing you." Adelle said, picking up Crackpot.

Adelle left to return Crackpot. When she came back to the room, she found Caitlin pinning Jin to the wall and threatening him.

"Where's my staff?" Caitlin demanded.

"Why do you naturally assume I took it?" Jin replied indignantly.

"Well didn't you?" Caitlin shouted.

"Um… Yes… But that doesn't mean you have to assume it was me…" Jin said.

Caitlin shook him violently. "WHERE IS IT?"

Adelle took out the Catatonic Cosh and tapped Caitlin on the shoulder with it. "Here it is."

Caitlin stared transfixed on the staff for a long time. "That… Is an amazing staff…" She then resumed shaking Jin. "NOW TELL ME WHERE MINE IS YOU PSEUDO PRIEST!"

"That IS your staff! And I am a real priest, thank you very much!" Jin retorted.

"LIAR!" Caitlin yelled.

Jin rubbed the back of his neck. "I seem to get that a lot today…"

"Caitlin? He's telling the truth. We fixed your staff." Adelle explained as she pried Caitlin off of Jin and handed her the staff.

Caitlin examined the staff. "This looks nothing like my staff!"

"But it's the most powerful kind of staff ever invented!" Adelle said quickly.

"It's still not MY staff!" Caitlin snapped.

"Yes, it is! We upgraded it using alchemy." Adelle insisted.

Caitlin stared at her for a long time. "Really….?"

Adelle nodded. "It's still your staff; it just got some improvements to make it stronger."

"Th… thank you!" Caitlin exclaimed, hugging Adelle. "It's wonderful!"

"Hey! I helped! Don't I get a hug too?" Jin asked.

"No." Caitlin said sharply.

"Why not?" Jin demanded.

"Because you are a letch." Caitlin replied.

There was a knock on the door and Matt called in. "Hey! Are we ready to leave yet or not?"

Adelle opened the door and handed Matt his new sword. He examined it and grinned before sheathing it. The group finished packing their belonging and went downstairs to say farewell to Erinn and Patty.

Once the farewells were finished, they traveled to the Starflight Express. The journey to the Starflight was uneventful; however, when they reached their destination, they noticed the ghost of a young woman in a cloak walk by.

"Well, she looks in need of some cheering up." Stella commented.

"No… Not here either… He's not here…" The ghost girl sighed. "I must keep searching…"

She then walked past the group without giving them the slightest acknowledgement before she vanished.

"Talk about icy shoulders! Well bolt her! We have more important things to do! All aboard the Starflight Express!" Stella called out.

The group climbed aboard the train one by one. Stella headed to the controls. When Adelle finally climbed into the engine room, the train shook and glowed a brilliant gold. The control panel lit up and the engine started running.

"YES! Seems the old rustbucket finally decided you were a full-fledged Celestrian!" Stella exclaimed.

"So, you can fly us to the Observatory now?" Caitlin asked.

"Umm… Of course I can! …Controlling this thing is no problem!" Stella said with a shaky laugh.

"We're doomed…" Matt muttered.

"Hey! Shut your flap and let me do my job!" Stella snapped.

Stella examined the controls carefully while the others went to the passenger cabins. Adelle stayed behind with Stella in the control room.

"So, how do you start this train?" Adelle asked curiously.

"Well… Uh… I suppose I just have to plug in the co-ordinators and press this do-hicky, and fiddle with that whatcha-ma-hooz-it…." Stella mumbled.

Adelle felt nervous watching Stella mess with the control board. Meanwhile, Caitlin, Jin, and Matt were enjoying the comfy seats in the passenger cabin.

"I can't believe we're going to see where Celestrians live!" Caitlin said, hardly able to sit still.

"I'm more interested in finding out what is going on with all of these ancient monsters being awakened. I know they all tie back to that earthquake, but what caused it? And why can I suddenly see ghosts and faeries?" Matt said.

Jin shrugged. "I've seen ghosts and the like since I was a tot. I wonder if I'll run into the Celestrian who saved my life? I can show him how much I've improved!"

"That poor Celestrian is going to be disappointed…" Caitlin sighed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jin exclaimed.

"Hey, just what was that Celestrian like any way? Was he like Adelle?" Matt asked.

"Well… He had large wings, was bald, and had a halo. That's all I really remember of his appearance. He said he wasn't the guardian of my hometown, but was just passing through. Um… He didn't act a whole lot like Adelle. He was way more serious, but he still seemed pretty nice." Jin answered.

"Huh, well, guess Adelle IS unusual for a Celestrian after all." Matt said.

"Hey! No insulting my teacher!" Jin shouted.

Matt laughed. "Lighten up a little. I was joking."

The Starflight Express lurched before rising into the air. They heard Stella cheering from the engine room. "YES! THAT WORKED! I DID IT! …. I mean… Of course I did it! Hahahah!"

The train zoomed through the air at a steep incline. The group looked out the windows and watched the ground shrink away below them. Stornway looked like an tiny model on a game board. Distant lands come into sight. Caitlin spotted the desert island with the stone walled city of Gleeba at the center. Matt could barely make out the shore where the small village of Porth Llafan.

Soon they entered an area of very dark clouds. Jin jumped away from the window as a bolt of lightning whizzed past. Everything became almost as dark as night until they reached an opening in the clouds. There they saw a giant building made out of stone floating in the air. It had many archways and catacombs. Some of the columns were destroyed and areas of the building looked as though they had been through a war. On the top of the cylindrical building was a large tree which they assumed to be Yggdrasil.

Adelle entered the passenger cabin and beamed. "We've finally made it!"


	16. Chapter 16

The Starflight Express pulled alongside the top of the Observatory, just below the great tree Yggdrasil. Apus Major and a few attendants had been praying before Yggdrasil when the Starflight arrived.

"The Celestial Carriage has returned! How quickly the prayers of the pious are answered!" Apus Major exclaimed as he and his attendants rushed to the train.

When they arrived, the door to the engine room opened and out stepped Adelle, followed by Stella. The Celestrians stared at her in shock.

Apus Major gave Adelle a tight hug. "Adelle! You have returned! It is a miracle! …But, what has become of your halo and wings? What horrors have you faced, child?"

"Um… Long story short, I somehow lost them when I fell to the protectorate." Adelle answered.

"But… Why is it that you alone have returned to us? What has become of the others?" Apus Major asked.

Adelle stared at him, a knot forming in her stomach. "Others? You mean that I wasn't the only one who fell?"

He nodded solemnly. "Come, we have much to discuss. Please, follow me to the throne room. We'll continue this conversation there."

"Wait, before we go, is it alright for my friends to come along?" Adelle asked.

"What friends are you referring to? I thought you returned alone." Apus Major said, turning to look back at the train.

"I made some mortal friends. They helped me return. They are very kind and can see ghosts and the Starflight Express…" Adelle replied.

"They can? Well, of course they may join us. We owe them a great thanks for helping you return home. " Apus Major said.

Adelle nodded and ran back onto the train to fetch her friends. When they got off of the train, they looked around in awe of the Observatory before following Apus Major to the throne room. Jin was ogling the Celestrian women they pass and Caitlin had to drag him along by the ear. Matt took careful note of the weapons and armor on display in the corridors of the Observatory. Many pillars were crumbling and the Observatory's floors were cracked. Word of their arrival spread rapidly throughout the Observatory and the residents gathered around to see them. When they finally reached the throne room, the guards stopped the spectating Celestrians at the door. Apus Major took his place on the throne while Adelle, Matt, Caitlin, and Jin stood before him. Adelle then explained the occurrences in the Protectorate to him.

Apus Major listened with a sigh. "So the earthquake that caused all those misfortunes happened simultaneously with the light that ravaged the Observatory…"

"Sir, do you believe that event caused us to be able to see ghosts and Celestrians?" Caitlin asked.

"I could see them before any of this happened…" Jin mumbled.

Apus Major chuckled slightly. "In a roundabout way, I suppose that could be said. You see, throughout time, there have been some Celestrians who became quite attached to the mortals they protected. When that happened, those Celestrians prayed at the base of Yggdrasil to become mortal. For some of those Celestrians, their prayers were answered. Their wings and halos disappeared and they were transported to the protectorate to live amongst the mortals. However, they couldn't become entirely mortal themselves. Some of their Celestrian traits were passed down through their bloodlines. You three have Celestrian ancestry. Matthew, Caitlin, the traits you inherited must have been awakened when you came in contact with Adelle, a full Celestrian. As for you Jin, the Celestrian blood is much more potent in you, so the traits appeared on their own."

"Wait… You're saying… that JIN is the most closely related to Celestrians out of the three of us?" Caitlin exclaimed in shock.

Matt groaned when he saw Apus Major nod. "That's even harder to believe than him being a priest!"

Jin was beaming proudly. "So I'm part Celestrian, huh? Then my path to rehabilitation has just gotten much easier!"

"Oh no, you still have a LONG way to go yet." Matt said.

Apus Major rubbed the back of his neck and sought a subject change. "Now, I suppose that you wish to know what happened here after you fell. Is that so, Adelle?"

"Yes." Adelle said as she braced herself for any bad news that would follow.

"That night, many Celestrians fell from the observatory. Most able bodied Celestrians went in search of those who had fallen… However, not a single person who left has returned, save for you. Along with the Celestrians, the seven golden fyggs fell to the protectorate as well." Apus Major explained.

"They're all still missing? And the fyggs too?" Adelle muttered quietly.

Apus Major then continued. "Now… As for your wings… I don't know what happened to them, but perhaps if you went to the base of Yggdrasil and prayed, the Almighty will restore them?"

Adelle nodded. "That could work, thank you."

"You must be tired from your travels. How about you show your friends to some spare rooms and rest for a spell?"

"Thank you, I will." Adelle said before turning and leading her friends out of the throne room.

Stella fluttered ahead of the group. "Well, now that I've got you delivered here, I'm off to find Old Fatguts! And like they say, time and tide waits for Norman and I ain't Norman, so I had best get going. See ya!"

With that, Stella turned into a ball of light and sped down a corridor. The group waved goodbye to her before heading down another corridor.

"So… Why do you need spare bedrooms here? I doubt you get many visitors…" Matt asked.

Adelle laughed. "There are more rooms here than Celestrians. And there are times when a person needs to stay in a different room such as if their room needs renovation. Plus, there are young Celestrians who want to stop living with their parents."

"Speaking of parents… Can we meet yours?" Jin asked.

Adelle rubbed the back of her neck. "I'd love to say yes to that, but there aren't any parents for you to meet."

Jin gave a startled blink. He quickly lowered his head. "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have pried! I didn't realize that you lost your parents…"

"Don't worry, I'm not upset." Adelle said soothingly.

Matt was about to ask something else when he saw Adelle's rucksack move. He raised an eyebrow and poked the bag. The bag moved more and a shiny metal point stuck out of the top of the bag. His eyes widened. "The metal slime!"

Adelle quickly took her pet out of the bag and held him protectively. "His name is Sir Frederick, and he's my friend! So you aren't allowed to kill him!"

The same crazed gleam as before began to return to Matt's eyes as he stared at the metal slime. Adelle saw this, so she bolted down the hall with Matt in close pursuit. Adelle darted into a room at the end of the hall and slammed the door in Matt's face.

"Open up!" Matt ordered.

"No way!" Adelle shouted.

Caitlin put Matt into a headlock. "It's alright, Adelle; I'm restraining him."

Adelle slowly opened the door and peered out at them. Seeing that Caitlin had indeed managed to restrain Matt, she let them into the room.

"This is ridiculous! Matt, make peace with the slime!" Caitlin demanded, tightening her grip around his neck.

Matt reluctantly looked at Frederick and mumbled, "I won't kill you…"

"Swear it on your knight's honor!" Caitlin ordered.

Matt gasped as Caitlin cut off a little more of his oxygen. "F-fine! On my honor as a knight! I won't kill it!"

Caitlin smiled triumphantly and released him, ignoring the dirty looks he was giving her. Adelle breathed a sigh of relief. She then set Sir Frederick down and placed her bag on a desk. She flopped down on the bed and smiled. "It's good to be back."

Jin looked around the room. "So, this is your room?"

"Yep! And the two rooms adjacent to this one are vacant, so you guys can stay there." Adelle responded.

The room was filled with a wide assortment of possessions. There was exercise equipment such as mats, hand weights, etc. Her bookshelves were crammed with both novels and academic books covering topics ranging everywhere from logic to history. There were lots of stuffed animals and antique toys; in fact, most of the items in her room were antiques. The walls of the room were white with only a few pictures to decorate them; however, the single window had a beautiful view overlooking the protectorate.

Matt and Jin went to one of the vacant rooms to get settled in. Caitlin was about to leave when Adelle stopped her.

"I'm going to check on a friend; make sure the boys don't get into trouble, alright?" Adelle said.

Caitlin laughed. "Yeah, sure thing."

Adelle smiled and went off down the hall while Caitlin got settled in next door. Adelle went out along the outside of the Observatory. The dark storm clouds and the debris from the attack were a stark contrast to the beautiful walks she used to take. She eventually made her way to a small, secluded garden where Columba was kneeling in prayer before a stone memorial.

"Columba…?" Adelle said quietly as she approached her.

Columba quickly turned around and her eyes widened. She leapt to her feet and hugged Adelle tightly.

"Thank the Almighty that you have returned home safely!" She exclaimed.

Adelle smiled and hugged her back. "It's good to see you too, Columba."

Columba suddenly gasped. "Adelle! Your halo! Your wings! What happened to them?"

"They popped off when I fell… I think… maybe… I have no idea really." Adelle said sheepishly. She then summarized her adventure in the Protectorate.

"I see… So Aquila didn't return with you?" Columba asked.

"No… I thought he was here with you." Adelle said.

"He left to scour the protectorate for you… He was so afraid that his master's fate had befallen you as well. He must still be searching for you." Columba said.

"Columba, he never talks about his master… What happened to him?" Adelle asked.

Columba gestured to the memorial stone she had been praying at. Adelle examined the writing on the stone. The inscription on it read: "In loving memory of Corvus, his kind heart and selfless devotion to mortals shall always be remembered."

"Corvus fell from the Observatory and was never seen again. His disappearance was so sudden… It was a shock to everyone, but most of all to Aquila." Columba explained. "But, we promised to never speak of the incident again, so let us move on to more pleasant subjects. Your return should be most happy occasion."

Meanwhile, Matt and Jin had grown restless, so they decided to do some exploring of the Observatory. They first went to Caitlin's room and knocked on the door.

Caitlin answered the door. "What is it?"

"Hey! You finally let your hair down!" Jin exclaimed.

"Yeah… I was relaxing so I took it out of the ponytail." Caitlin said, rolling her eyes.

"While we're on the topic of hair, I've been meaning to ask you this… But when do you find the time to dye your hair?" Matt asked.

Caitlin raised her eyebrow. "Dye? What do you mean dye? This is my natural hair color!"

Matt folded his arms and scoffed. "Yeah, sure. You expect me to believe that your natural hair color is PURPLE?"

A vein throbbed in Caitlin's forehead. "We are in a giant building floating miles above the earth. We arrived in a flying glow-in-the-dark train. We speak to faeries, ghosts, and Celestrians. We saved a corpse knight from an evil witch, as well as literally fought a plague. We have seen a person be resurrected from the dead. YES, I EXPECT YOU TO BELIEVE THIS IS MY NATURAL HAIR COLOR!"

There was a moment of silence as Matt struggled to find a comeback, but the effort was in vain. He finally sighed, "Touché."

"Now was there a reason for you to come by here?" She demanded.

"We're going exploring, and wondered if you would grace us with your presence on our exploration." Jin said with a charming smile.

"Well, I did promise to keep you two out of trouble…" Caitlin mumbled.

"You what?" Matt exclaimed.

Jin grinned and whisked Caitlin off before she could respond. "Excellent! Glad to have you along!"

The three spent the next hour wandering the halls of the Observatory. They were about to return to their rooms when Jin spotted a door labeled "prayer room". Curious, he opened the door. He was expecting it to look like a church sanctuary, but to his shock, it was a room filled with work desks. One wall was covered with filing cabinets, while another wall was made up of bird cages. There were large bins overflowing with vials filled with a glowing substance. Each bin had the name of a town guardian.

In awe, Jin, Matt, and Caitlin stepped inside the room to explore further. As the entered the room, a dove flew in through an open window. It dropped one of the vials into the bin marked "Adelle" before landing in one of the large cages with other doves. Caitlin picked up the vial and opened it.

Suddenly a familiar voice could be heard from the substance in the vial. "Hey, Guardian Adelle… It's me, Ivor. I know you probably don't like me very much because of the way I have acted in the past… But Erinn puts a lot of stock in you and this whole prayer business, so I figured I'd give it a try. Could you get Erinn to come back to visit Angel Falls? Her grandpa… and well, I… Miss her very much… And while you're at it, maybe you can get Caitlin and that minstrel Adelle to visit too? Not that I miss them or anything! I just figure Erinn might like to see them again, that's all! And uh… well, thanks… bye."

Caitlin started laughing. "Ah, so this isn't where they pray. This is where they collect prayers. Sort of a mail room, I guess."

Matt nodded as he examined a book on one of the desks. "They apparently record the prayer, who prayed to whom, and the date of the prayer. But it seems they haven't been recording since the attack on the Observatory… This book hasn't been updated."

"Makes sense, doesn't it though?" Jin said. "Apus Major told us that all the able bodied Celestrians went looking for those who had fallen. Makes sense that the guardians are missing and can't go through their mail."

"Yeah… What do you say we help the Celestrians out a bit here? We'll do their record keeping for them." Caitlin suggested.

Jin and Matt looked at each other before turning to her and nodding. The three friends then began sorting through the build-up of prayers.

The next morning, Adelle knelt before the World Tree atop the Observatory and began her prayer to have her wings and halo restored to her. She prayed so long and hard that she fell into a very deep sleep. As she slumbered, a vision appeared to her of a dark blue beam of light hurtling from the sky towards the protectorate as a deep voice boomed, "Mortals – they have become a despicable and corrupt race! From dust they came and to dust they shall return!"

Suddenly, a pink light flew in front of the blue beam, stopping it above the protectorate. A female's voice then spoke. "Please, father! Stay your hand! I have faith in the mortals!"

"They are beyond redemption! I shall destroy them!" The deep voice responded.

"No! Please, there is good in them. One day, it will be proven to you. Until then, I shall take this form." The woman's voice said.

Then, an image of a tree glowing with a beautiful light appeared before Adelle as the woman's voice continued. "Precious Adelle, the fact that you were able to return without your wings shows that you are the one we must rely upon. You must go to Alltrades Abbey. I shall illuminate that way."

Adelle awoke to someone shaking her shoulder. She opened her eyes to see her friends and Apus Major surrounding her.

She smiled at them and yawned. "Oh.. Hey… Man, I just had the weirdest dream."

"You had a vision?" Apus Major asked. "Please, tell me what you saw."

Adelle nodded and explained what she had seen.

"Wow… I want to try whatever it was she had…" Jin muttered before getting punched in the shoulder by Matt.

"That must have been a vision from the Almighty!" Apus Major exclaimed.

Adelle rubbed the back of her neck. "Or it was a dream… I tend to have weird ones…"

"No, it was definitely a life altering vision!" Apus Major insisted. "This must be a sign that you are to go back to the protectorate and retrieve the Fyggs!"

"Well, if that's the case then we're going too." Caitlin said.

Matt nodded. "Stornway should be fine in my absence."

"Count me in! I want to bash some more monsters! Uh, I mean help others…" Jin said.

Sir Frederick hopped into Adelle's arms and nuzzled her. Adelle smiled at her friends. "Thank you… I appreciate it."

They said farewell to Apus Major before boarding the Starflight express. Stella was in the engine room, pacing back and forth.

"Where the flap is Old Fatguts? I thought for sure he'd be here! Ugh! Guess I'll have to do some foot work in the protectorate to find him… But can I really be bothered with that? Ah, might as well. I need my wages." Stella muttered to herself.

"Mind if we hitch a ride?" Jin asked. He then explained their situation to her.

"Sure. The more the merrier. Now, you said we need to go to Alltrades? Sure thing!" Stella said.

Stella then smashed several buttons on the control board to start up the train. While she took the controls, Jin, Matt, Caitlin, and Adelle went back to one of the passenger cars. The Starflight let out a loud whistle as it flew toward the protectorate below.


	17. Chapter 17

The Starflight had been circling above Alltrades Abbey for a few hours and showed no sign of landing. In fact, with some of their circling, the train's altitude increased. The train's passengers grew restless with each lap around the abbey. Adelle finally rose from her seat and went to the engine room. Stella was fluttering about the controls muttering to herself.

"Stella? Why haven't we landed?" Adelle asked.

"Ack! When did you come in here?!" Stella exclaimed as she whipped around to face Adelle.

"Just a minute ago. Is something wrong?" Adelle asked, looking over the controls.

Stella sighed. "Well sorta, yeah… Seems this hunk of metal isn't in tippy top shape after all. If we land, we'll crash."

Adelle's eyes widened. "What?!"

"Just hold your ponies! I'm looking for a soft spot to crash – I mean land gently. Now, keep your eyeballs peeled for a giant pillow or something." Stella ordered.

Adelle nodded and went to a window, silently praying that they would be able to land safely. As they approached the southwest side of the abbey, Adelle spotted a large tree glowing with a beautiful light blue. She suddenly burst out, "Stella! That glowing tree! Land there! It was in my dream when the voice told me that she'd guide me!"

"Although I don't think it's good policy to listen to voices in other people's heads, that tree does look like it fits the bill for a landing mat. Alright! Here we go!" Stella said as she smashed several buttons on the control panel.

The Starflight suddenly lurched as it sped into a dive. There was the loud cracking of branches as the train slammed into the top of the tree. The force of the landing sent Adelle sprawling into a wall and there were several shouts from the passenger car. When the train had come to a complete stop, Stella struck a victorious pose and let out a cheer. "I flapping did it! I am the best pilot EVER!"

Adelle shook her head and managed to get on her feet. She dusted herself off just as there was a furious pounding on the door to the passenger car. She went over to the door and opened it. There were three furious pairs of eyes staring through the door at her and Stella.

"What the hell kind of landing was that?!" Caitlin demanded.

"The epic kind!" Stella replied.

"I almost got impaled with my own sword in that landing!" Matt shouted.

"Maybe you should invest in a better sheath?" Stella suggested.

Jin grabbed ahold of both Matt and Caitlin's collars to restrain them from throttling Stella. "Perhaps next time it would be safer to let the slime do the driving." He chuckled.

As if on cue, Sir Frederick hurried into the engine room and hopped into Adelle's arms. Adelle hugged her trembling pet protectively.

"There, there, we landed now… Everything's okay…" She soothed.

When the slime calmed down, Adelle placed him in the safety of her rucksack. She then made her way to exit. "Well, regardless of how we landed, we should head to the abbey." She said as she climbed out of the train and onto a branch.

The others eventually settled down and followed her off the train. Adelle fearlessly jumped off the high branch she was on and tumbled onto the ground, careful to shield Sir Frederick from the landing. Caitlin waited for her to move out of the way and jumped after her. She did a few somersaults during her descent and landed on her feet like a gymnast. Jin leapt from branch to branch with more ease than a squirrel until he reached the ground. Matt stared at them as though they had lost their minds. He chose to climb down the tree normally with no tricks and no great rush. Once they were all reunited safely on the ground, they headed for the abbey. The abbey stood atop of a large plateau and was surrounded by waterfalls and lush greenery. The only way to the top of the plateau was a long marble staircase. The group stared at the daunting staircase.

"Wish I had my wings…" Adelle mumbled.

Caitlin started up the stairs, stopping only to glance over her shoulder at her companions. "Well, what are you waiting for? These stairs aren't going to climb themselves."

Matt was the first to follow her. "If they climbed themselves, then they wouldn't be stairs. They'd be an escalator."

Caitlin rolled her eyes. "Oh shut it."

Jin nudged Adelle to get her started up the stairs. He walked alongside her behind Matt. He was unusually quiet, seemingly lost in some memories. Adelle pondered what he was reminiscing about, but decided not to interrupt his thoughts and admired the beautiful scenery instead. It took about a half hour of climbing to reach the top of the plateau. Sitting on the top few steps was a rag-tag group of people. There were four of them in total. One of them was a luminary with an extremely loud tutu, laced boots, and prodigious jewelry. A bright red hair ribbon tied back her short dark hair. Her brown eyes were surrounded in colorful makeup. Her face wore a bored expression.

Sitting next to her, playing jacks, was a little girl who looked to be about eight or nine years old. She was short and wore a black robe-like dress that was a size too big for her. She had dark green hair pulled into large pigtails. Her skin was heavily freckled and her large eyes a glimmering gold. On top of her head was a broad-brimmed pointed hat. A jeweled staff lay on the ground next to her. Playing jacks with the little girl was a young armamentalist dressed in a long deep red fencing coat, a rapier sheathed at his side. His neatly trimmed blonde hair was hidden under his large, feathered musketeer hat. All of his clothes were of fine material and were well constructed. His posture denoted a sense of refinement despite his playing a child's game.

The fourth person was sitting between two large wolves on the top step. Even though he was sitting, it was obvious that he was a tall man. His sandy hair was a mess and his clothes were well-worn. A bow and quiver full of arrows were slung against his back. A great deal of time outdoors had tanned his skin. He had multiple scars, but most prominently he had scars and callouses around his wrists, due to a consistent failure to wear arm guards when firing his bow. His gaze drifted from Caitlin to Matt to Jin to Adelle as they reached the top of the stairs. His gaze seemed to linger upon Adelle for a few seconds longer than the others as if he were figuring out some strange information about her in his mind.

The armamentalist looked up at them from his game. He then finished his turn and stood to face them. He removed his hat and held it against his chest as he took a deep bow. "Good day, travelers. My name is Goodfellow, Sir Robin Goodfellow. These are my companions, Chloe," he gestured to the little girl who did not turn her attention away from her jacks. "Gina…" he then gestured to the girl in the tutu.

"What kind of introduction is that?" Gina said indignantly. She then rose to her feet and made grand hand gestures as she spoke, "I am the Marvelous Gina, Luminary Extraordinaire! Crowds stand in awe of my raw talent and my refined graces!"

"Ah, and I see that modesty is not one of those graces." Jin said with a chuckle.

Gina's eyes shone with indignation; she looked like she was preparing to slap him. Robin placed his hand on her shoulder. "Perhaps it is best to save such an introduction for the stage." He then turned to gesture towards the ranger by the wolves. "And this is our fearless leader, Finley- Hey! Watch out!" His voice went from a warm greeting to a loud warning when he saw Adelle approach the wolves by Finley. Her hand was outstretched to pet them.

In an instant, the wolves had jumped on her, knocking her full force into the stone. She cried out as she hit the ground. Her friends could only catch long flailing limbs and locks of her light brown hair through the grey wolf fur as she struggled against the wolves. Caitlin grabbed her staff and charged at the wolves, but Jin, noticing movement out of the corner of his eye, latched ahold of her shirt and stopped her in her tracks. She turned her head to glare furiously at him for is apparent betrayal, but he tilted his head in Finley's direction. She then turned her glare to the ranger. He had drawn and aimed his bow at her with a speed that would have awed the English bowmen of old. The arrow was aimed at her dominant wrist, prepared to fire if she were to take one more step towards his wolves.

Seeing that she had been restrained, Finley put away his weapons. "They are causing no harm." His voice was rough and coarse as though it had grown rusty from lack of use.

The sound of Adelle laughing filled the air. Matt and Caitlin moved closer to her and the wolves, examining the situation more closely. The wolves had Adelle pinned, but instead of mauling her, they were licking her like a couple of puppies, their tails wagging as they did so. Adelle was smiling and squirming, completely unharmed. Her friends took a collective sigh of relief. Sir Frederick wiggled his way out of Adelle's bag and hopped away from the wolves. This caught the little girl, Chloe's, attention. A familiar gleam came to her eyes. She picked up her staff and wielded like a bat, swinging it at Sir Frederick as she began her pursuit.

"Hati, Skol, Chloe, heel!" Finley commanded.

The wolves looked over their shoulders at him and obeyed, returning to his side. Chloe skidded to a halt and whined, "But I'm one away from defeating a hundred of them…"

"Leave that one be." He said firmly.

Chloe sighed. "Fine…" She plopped back down on the step and resumed her game of Jacks. Sir Frederick took refuge with Jin.

"So… who might you travelers be?" Robin asked.

Caitlin took care of introducing everyone. "So… What are you guys? Some sort of performing group?"

"We are performers, questers, merchants, and whatever the situation calls for. For the moment, we are in search of a miraculous, shining f-" Robin stopped midsentence as he felt Finley's sharp gaze fall upon him. "For the moment, we are questers! So, what brings you to Alltrades?" He glanced over Caitlin. "Changing to a more fitting vocation?"

Caitlin glared at him. "Are you suggesting that there is something wrong with my being a martial artist?"

"No, I just don't see why someone with your lineage and upbringing would choose such an unrefined vocation." Robin answered shortly.

A strange set of emotions overwhelmed Caitlin all at once – shock, confusion, fear, and anger. She grabbed his shirt by its ruffles and pulled back her fist threateningly. Her voice was cold. "She sent you to get me, didn't she?! Is that your quest?! To bring me home to that evil woman?!"

Robin stared at her, completely startled. "What're ya talkin'–" He quickly regained his composure and cleared his throat. "What is the meaning of this?! Unhand me!"

After a few minutes of calming herself, Caitlin released him from her grasp. She walked past Robin and his companions sharply. She didn't turn her head as she spoke to her friends. "Come on, we have a fruit to find."

With that, she entered the abbey. Jin and Matt exchanged glances before following her. Adelle couldn't help noticing that the rest of Robin's group got a strange expression on their faces when Caitlin had mentioned the fruit. Robin had said that they were in search of something shining and miraculous. Could that be the fygg? If word had spread of the fyggs, then she feared that finding them would become far more difficult as people would want them for themselves. Her thoughts slowed her walking considerably, so by the time she had caught up to her friends, they were already speaking to a priest in the abbey's large sanctuary.

"Why yes, I do recall seeing a golden fruit here. I believe that a young man gave it to Abbot Jack as a repayment for changing his vocation…" The priest said.

Adelle's eyes lit up. "So it's here?! The fygg is really here?!"

The priest chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Yes, but I cannot say that I know where it is exactly. I last remember the Abbot taking it downstairs."

"Is he there now?" Matt pressed.

The priest lowered his head. "I am afraid that was the last anyone has seen of Abbot Jack… That was yesterday, and it is unlike him to miss work."

"So he was given the fygg… and then disappeared?" Matt asked, a knot forming in the pit of his stomach.

"Yes… I suppose he might have told our chef something about where he was going. I believe that was who he was going to see when last I saw him." The priest then looked over Matt and Jin. "Have I met you two before?"

Matt and Jin both nodded briefly then sought a subject change. Matt was the first to speak. "Well, thank you. We shall be off to speak with your chef."

The two turned and hurried out of the sanctuary so quickly that Adelle and Caitlin were barely able to keep up. Jin was the swiftest, so he led them down an ornate stairwell to the lower floor of the abbey which was used for housing and dining. The dining hall was set up like a tavern and was quite busy. They could hear bits and pieces of people's conversations, mostly complaints about the Abbot not being around to change their vocations. Jin's eyes fell on a young woman with short, jet black hair pulled into a ponytail. Her clothes were dirty and in tatters, except for the rather large leather hat which she wore. Through the holes in her outfit, Jin glimpsed her runic tattoos. The darkness of her green eyes stood in stark contrast to her pale skin.

As she walked past him, he recognized her. His heart felt as though it had stopped as dreadful memories washed over him. He shook his head to clear his mind. By the time he had regained control of his senses, the woman was already turning a corner down the hall to living quarters.

"I'll be right back." Jin said quickly before bolting after the woman, leaving his friends terribly confused.

It didn't take him long to track the woman down to her room. He barged into her room just as she was preparing to leave through a window. She turned her gaze upon him, examining his face carefully. At last she recognized him and let out a dry laugh. "Ah, is the King of Thieves here to take back his precious little locket? You're not a terribly good king to let one of your subjects take it so easily."

Jin stared at her calmly. "And you are a foolish thief if you have held onto it for so long. No, I am here on the matter of the wallet you just stole."

She sat on the windowsill, almost looking bored. "Me? Steal a wallet?"

"Don't play innocent; it doesn't suit you. I saw you take it from the well-dressed gentleman you passed on your way out of the tavern. My eyes are too accustomed to pickpocketing to miss such an act." Jin said, taking a step toward her.

The woman pulled the wallet out of her bag. She held it up for him to see. "Ah, well it seems retirement hasn't weakened your eyes." She then tossed the wallet to him. "You can have it; I don't need it. I only took it since my real prize, a fruit of gold, has eluded me here."

With a final smirk, she slipped out the window and onto a ledge. She ran sure-footedly along the ledge of the abbey until she disappeared from view down the giant stairway. Jin sighed and picked up the wallet, checking that she had not taken the money and left the wallet as a shell. When he was satisfied that the money was still inside, he returned to the tavern. The woman's words replayed over and over in his mind. He knew that there was no question that she was after the fygg as well, and he shuddered at the thought of what she would resort to in order to obtain her "prize".

When he returned to the tavern, he walked past the pickpocket victim, silently slipping the wallet back into the man's pocket. Jin found his friends sitting at a table in a corner of the room. Matt and Caitlin were both gravely silent and Adelle looked far too much like a ghost.

Jin smiled cheerily as he joined them. "Come now, don't look so glum. Certainly you could bare my absence for a little while? But regardless, let us eat, drink, and be merry, for I have returned!"

Matt looked at him sternly. "This is no time for jokes. We just spoke to the chef. Abbot Jack ate the fygg."

Jin's jaw dropped. "He WHAT?!"

Adelle looked as though she were about to burst into tears. "He ate it! Who eats a glowing fruit?! Doesn't glowing usually mean radioactive?!"

There was a long pause as Jin processed this information. He then gave his friends a reassuring smile. "Look, we don't know if he did indeed eat the fygg we are searching for. There could be other glowing fruits out there. After all, lightning bugs glow, so why can't fruits? Now, the best thing to do is find the old geezer and ask him about it."

Having little other choice, the others slowly nodded in agreement. Jin grinned and continued. "There now, it's all settled. We'll search for Jack first thing tomorrow. But for now, we have had a long day and should enjoy a rest."

A plan of action seemed to be what the group had needed. The air of gloom around their table slowly lifted as they ordered their food and drink and began a lively dinner discussion.


	18. Chapter 18

The next day, the group divided into pairs to search the abbey for clues as to Abbot Jack's whereabouts. Adelle and Matt had the task of asking everyone who worked in the abbey for information about the abbot. Jin and Caitlin teamed up to search the Abbot's room. They stood outside the door to the Abbot's room. Caitlin tried to open the door, but found that it was locked.

"Son-of-a... Guess I'll have to break it down." Caitlin said as she took a stance to kick in the door.

Jin set his hand on her shoulder to stop her. "No need. I can open it."

He then plucked a bobby pin out of Caitlin's hair and went to the keyhole. It took less than a second for him to pick the lock and open the door. He returned the pin to her hair and stepped inside.

Caitlin raised an eyebrow as she followed him into the room. "You opened that way too easily… Just how many bedrooms have you snuck into?"

Jin rubbed the back of his neck. "The time calls for work, not insinuations." He quickly busied himself with scouring the room for clues. He first checked all the places where people usually stash items of importance. Caitlin examined a bookshelf and a desk.

"So, where did you run off to yesterday?" She asked. "Trying to make a date with that girl who passed us?"

Jin scoffed. "It'll be a cold day in hell before I'd date that…" Remembering his current occupation, he stopped short and cleared his throat to begin his sentence again. "Er, I mean that I decidedly shall not associate with such a… uh… disreputable young woman."

Caitlin laughed. "Are you so sure that she would be the disreputable one of you two?"

Jin looked her dead in the eyes. His expression was grave. "Yes. I hate her. She is vile, and she will stop at nothing to get what she wants, and what she wants is the fygg."

Caitlin stared at him a long time before speaking. "The fygg…? How does she know about that? And do you know her?"

"She has an extra pair of eyes and ears, you might say. And yes, I have met her a couple of times before." Jin answered.

Caitlin was about to press him for more details, but her focus shifted to a book in one of the Abbot's desk drawers labeled "diary". She snatched up the book and flipped to the most recent entry. Her eyes lit up.

She began reading part of the passage aloud. "It seems that the fruit that young man gave me has bestowed upon me some miraculous power. Truly, this is a sign that the Almighty wants me to become stronger and lead my flock to divine salvation. With this new found strength, I shall journey to the Tower of Alltrades and open the door with my bow first thing in the morning."

"So… The Tower of Alltrades… That's not too far from here. That's good." Jin said with a smile.

"But it means that he ate the fygg." Caitlin grimaced.

"Yes, but he has its magic now, so he could be of use to us." Jin replied.

The two then left the room to meet up with Matt and Adelle. They filled their friends in with what they had discovered. They set out immediately for the Tower of Alltrades to the east of the abbey. The great tower stood at the base of a mountain range. The once glorious architecture was overgrown with vines and sections of the tower were in obvious disrepair. The vines around the large wooden door had been cut recently to allow access into the tower, the only sign that the abbot had truly gone inside the tower. When the group tried to enter, they discovered that the door didn't have a handle. They pushed against the door with all their might, but it refused to budge. Jin searched for a lock, but there was no sign of one.

"Well, looks like I finally get to kick down a door a today." Caitlin said with an eager grin.

She readied herself and then struck the door with a powerful kick. There was a loud crack as her foot collided with the door. She suddenly sprung away from the door and hopped around on one foot. She clutched her now injured foot as she spewed forth a stream of profanity which managed to impress Jin. However, the door didn't have so much as a scuff mark from her kick. Jin went over to Caitlin and used a spell to heal Caitlin's foot as Matt stepped up to the door.

"Heh, a wood door, huh? It should be no match for my inferno blade." Matt said with a smirk.

He drew his sword, and it burst into an intense flame. He then slashed repeatedly at the door. The door remained intact, un-singed, and decidedly still closed. Matt finally gave up and put away his sword. When he turned to the group, he noticed that Adelle was missing.

"What the?! Where did Adelle go now?!" He exclaimed.

Adelle laughed as she returned to the group from behind the tower. "Just seeing if there was a back entrance we could use."

Caitlin groaned. "Why didn't we think of that?!"

"IS there a back entrance?" Matt asked.

"Nope. No side entrances or cellars. And there are no windows on the first two floors, only on the third floor and up. If only I had my wings…" Adelle sighed.

"So, now what do try?" Caitlin asked.

"There is one more thing we haven't tried… But I don't think it will do anything…" Adelle said.

"Right now, we should try everything." Caitlin replied.

Adelle shrugged. "Okay…" She stood in front of the door and held out her arms. She cleared her throat and shouted, "Open Sesame!"

And, of course, the door remained shut. Caitlin whacked the back of Adelle's head. "What was that?!"

"That was trying everything…" Adelle said, rubbing the back of her head. "How did the Abbot manage to get in?"

Caitlin ignored the dirty look Sir Frederick was giving her for striking Adelle. "I don't know. The diary mentioned something about opening the door with a bow."

"A bow? Like in archery?" Matt asked.

"Well, that sucks, none of us have a bow." Adelle said. She then turned to face the dirt path leading up to the tower. "Finley, can we borrow your bow?"

Jin, Matt, and Caitlin followed her gaze to the path, but saw no one there.

"Adelle, are you alright? There's no one- What the hell?!" Jin shouted as Finley and his group suddenly appeared in the path.

Robin stared at Adelle in shock. "How did you see through Finley's vanish spell?! No one can see through it! Not even monsters or magical beings can do that!"

"It wasn't obvious…?" Adelle asked, tilting her head.

"So you _are_ one of them." Finley said, not looking the least bit surprised that Adelle had seen through his spell.

"She's one of who?" Gina asked.

"Only the eyes of those under the spell or a full blooded Celestrian can see through Vanish." Finley answered, his gaze not leaving Adelle. His eyes narrowed as he spoke. "I suggest you return to the Observatory now. The fyggs are mine."

Both groups of questers stared at Adelle and Finley in deep confusion, except for Chloe who seemed entirely disinterested as she played with a yoyo. Adelle suppressed her own feelings of bewilderment and returned Finley's gaze. "The fygg is no one's right now. The abbot ate it and he is in the tower of which we have no means of getting inside. Will you use your bow to open the door or not?"

"We tried opening the door earlier, but nothing worked. That's why we followed you when we overheard you guys talking about the tower. Finley's bow has nothing to do with opening the door." Chloe said, completing a yoyo trick.

Adelle frowned. "Well, that's no good…" She looked at Jin and Caitlin. "Are you sure the diary said 'bow'?"

Caitlin nodded. "B-O-W. Bow."

"Maybe it meant a bow like a ribbon?" Gina suggested.

Robin was in deep thought, but suddenly his eyes lit up. "B-O-W… That is not bow as in archery or a ribbon. It is bow as in the masculine version of a courtesy."

"I hate our spelling system." Jin and Caitlin grumbled.

Robin walked up to the tower door and took a deep bow before it. There was a loud creak as the door swung open. The rest of Robin's group entered the tower. Finley left his wolves at the door of the tower, giving them a single order before following his comrades. "Don't let them follow us."

The door closed behind Finley, and his wolves stood before it, snarling at Adelle, Matt, Caitlin, and Jin. The wolves' fangs were bared and their fur bristled. Matt drew his sword, prepared to fight his way past the wolves. However, Adelle stepped toward the wolves before he could move. Her arms were folded and she stared sternly at the wolves.

"You two should be ashamed of yourselves!" Adelle scolded. The wolves stopped snarling and turned their full attention to her. She continued. "The fyggs your master is after are very important to me. I don't know what he wants them for, but I need them desperately. It is shameful of you to block our way! Besides, we need to make sure that the abbot isn't hurt!"

The wolves' ears went flat and they laid down at her feet submissively. She smiled kneeled by them and scratched behind their ears. "Good… Now, I need you two to watch over Sir Frederick for me. I don't want him getting hurt while we're inside the tower."

She set Sir Frederick down in between the wolves. She then stood back up and opened the door with a quick bow. She ran inside the tower with her friends following close behind. She took off down a corridor in search of stairs.

"I can't believe that worked!" Matt exclaimed.

"I'm pretty sure they were meant as a scare tactic, not as an actual weapon. If Finley knows that I'm Celestrian, then he knows that those wolves would have a difficult time trying to injure me." Adelle responded, finally finding a stair case.

She ran up the stairs two at a time and reached the second floor quickly. However, she had to stop to catch her breath. Her companions stood around her to wait for her to stop panting.

"What do you think those guys want with the fyggs?" Caitlin asked.

"I'm more curious as to how he knew about the Observatory… And how he knows that there are more than one fygg…" Adelle panted. "We better hurry and find the abbot before they do." She regained some energy and resumed traversing in search of the next flight of stairs.

On the fourth floor, Finley led his group into a room and shut the door. He took a seat in an old chair near the door. The others followed his lead and settled into some seats as well.

"Now we wait." He said.

"For what exactly?" Robin asked. "They shall catch up to us soon."

"That's the point." Finley replied.

Chloe answered Robin's confused expression. "The fyggs aren't meant to be consumed by mortals. If the geezer ate one, then it is gonna have some nasty side effects. It'd be just plain stupid to rush into such a dangerous situation. We're going to let them test the waters for us. They'll be in such a rush to make it to the geezer before us that they won't even notice that they passed us."

"That… strikes me as… well… unethical to say the least…" Robin stammered, a bit shocked at Chloe's bluntness.

"That girl is a Celestrian, one that the other Celestrians sent to retrieve the fyggs. She should be more than able to handle herself." Finley replied.

"So… We're going to let them risk themselves to get a fygg and then take it from them?" Robin asked.

"Yes." Finley answered.

Robin stared at him in disbelief. However, it was Gina who spoke next. "But she's a Celestrian! Should we really steal from her?"

Finley scowled. "Celestrians aren't holy beings. They are selfish creatures out to exploit those more helpless than themselves. They mustn't be allowed to have the fyggs."

Gina and Robin examined Finley's face carefully before slowly nodding their assent. Finley had always led them right before, why should now be any different?

Eventually, Adelle and her friends reached the top of the tower. The roof was flat except for a turret in each corner. At the north end of the roof was a glowing portal.

"I'm going to assume that Jack went through there." Jin said, eyeing the portal.

"Hey, anyone see that jerk's group on the way up?" Caitlin asked as she looked around the roof.

"No… Do you think they went through the portal as well?" Adelle asked.

Matt shook his head. "My bet is that they'll let us do the dirty work and then try to steal whatever success that we have."

Jin nodded. "Sounds like something I'd do if I were them… Uh… I mean… How despicable!"

"Well, we have to find Abbot Jack, so let's get going." Caitlin said as she entered the portal.

The others followed her into the portal. The portal transported them to a large, gold and red platform that seemed to be suspended in the air. The surroundings appeared to be made up of swirling pink clouds with orbs of light floating about. There was a large spell circle drawn in the center of the platform. In the middle of the spell circle stood an old man with long white hair and an equally long beard. He wore long white robes with purple accents. Upon his head was a large, rounded, white and purple hat.

He stood with his arms raised to the sky as he called out, "O' winds of change! You who have granted me the power to lead lost souls to the path of righteousness, allow me to lead even more along the path of salvation!"

Adelle slowly approached him. As soon as she stepped into his spell circle, he whipped around and glared at her. "Who are you?!" he demanded. "You had better not interfere with this sacred rite!"

"Abbot Jack? We've come to take you back to the abbey…" Adelle said softly.

"Not now." He returned to what he was doing. "O' mighty spirit, grant me more power!"

The spell circle suddenly glowed a dark purple. Dark energy shot up out of the circle and engulfed the abbot. The energy knocked Adelle out of the spell circle and onto her back. Electric currents ran through the mass of energy. The abbot couldn't be seen through the darkness, but his voice could be heard.

"Yes! The power! Let it consume me!" He cried maniacally.

"Oh man… This never means anything good…" Caitlin muttered, readying her staff.

The darkness swelled until finally it dispersed. Abbot Jack stared down at himself in shock. He had grown considerably in size and his skin had been turned to dark blue and blood red armor-like scales. He had grown a long tail with a spear like tip at the end. A large white spike protruded from each of his hands.

"Wh-what is this…? This is not what I wished for!" He shouted. Then slowly, a demonic smirk spread across his face and a dark laugh escaped his throat. "I see now! With this power… I am to lead the masses to salvation through tyranny! I am no longer Abbot Jack of Alltrades, but am now the Master of Nu'un!"

Adelle stared at the Master of Nu'un and muttered to herself, "So this is the kind of person who eats radioactive fruit…"

As she slowly got to her feet, the Master of Nu'un turned his focus to her. "You! You tried to interfere with my attainment of divine power! For that, you must suffer my wrath!"

A loud crackling noise filled the room as he lifted his hand to the sky. As he brought his hand back down, a tremendous bolt of lightning came down at Adelle, Caitlin, Matt, and Jin. Jin sprang to the side to avoid the lightning. Caitlin, being the swiftest, grabbed the much slower moving Matt and dove out of the way of the bolt. Adelle leapt forward toward the Master of Nu'un just in time to dodge the lightning. However, she was so focused on the bolt that she didn't see his second attack. He threw a punch consumed in dark energy that hit her directly in the stomach, the spike on his hand goring her.

Adelle's eyes widened, the color draining from her face. When he drew back his hand, she collapsed to her knees and curled around her stomach, crying out in pain. A sense of sheer horror spread over her as she realized what she was up against.


	19. Chapter 19

Adelle staggered to her feet, her hand covering her gaping wound. As she stood upright, she felt nauseous and dizzy. She became clammy as the color drained from her face. Panic arose as she realized how dangerously close she was to passing out. She quickly tried to use her magic to heal her wound. However, the Master of Nu'un wasn't about to give her that chance. He lunged toward her with a barrage of spiked punches. Adelle scrambled, barely dodging each punch.

Jin ran forward to intervene, but Matt latched onto him and stopped him. Jin furiously turned on Matt. "What are you doing?! She's going to die!"

"You aren't wearing armor. YOU will die if he hits you. Stay back here and Caitlin and I will bring her for you to heal." Matt replied, his voice calm and commanding.

Jin's hand twitched on the handle of his knife. He reluctantly nodded and stood back as Matt charged the Master of Nu'un. Caitlin leapt into battle with Matt. They managed to get between Adelle and the Master of Nu'un. Matt struck down the Master of Nu'un's punches with his sword which was fully ablaze. Each time Matt struck down a punch, Caitlin utilized the opportunity to get close to the Master of Nu'un and strike. She would then get out of the way for Matt to negate the Master's next attack.

Caitlin looked over her shoulder to see if Adelle had managed to make it back to Jin to be healed. Her eyes widened when she realized that Adelle was just standing there, staring blankly at the battle. "What the hell are you doing?! RUN!" She shouted.

Adelle was about to say something, but changed her mind. Her vision had gone completely black and it was sheer willpower keeping her conscious. She listened carefully for the sounds of the battle and walked in the opposite direction to make her escape. Her movements were slow and labored.

The Master of Nu'un quickly learned Matt and Caitlin's attack pattern. So, this time when Caitlin came close to strike him with her staff, he whipped his long tail into her, sending her sprawling. His tail then wrapped around Matt and threw him full force into Caitlin. He then returned his attention to Adelle. He swiftly caught up to her because of her sluggish pace. She heard him come close and she desperately tried to quicken her pace to get away.

Suddenly, as the Master of Nu'un prepared a final blow, Adelle became surrounded in a bright, golden light. He threw a spiked punch full force at her, however, Adelle leapt out of the way with a new found grace and ease. She smoothly dodged the Master of Nu'un's barrage of punches. She had no control over her movements; her body seemed to be acting on its own.

Caitlin stared at her glowing friend. "What is going on?!"

Matt watched Adelle carefully. "I think… that's a coup de grace. I heard about them during my training… It is rumored that sometimes when a person is in great peril, a coup de grace will be unleashed. Some say it is the Almighty intervening and others say it's a person's magic taking over. Whatever the cause, it varies from person to person… And it seems that Adelle has the ability to dodge."

Caitlin took a deep breath and got to her feet. She helped Matt stand, and they resumed their assault on the Master of Nu'un, once again drawing his attention away from Adelle. The golden glow surrounding Adelle dimmed. She turned on her heels and ran to Jin. By the time she reached him, the glow had completely faded. Her legs buckled and she collapsed, unconscious. Jin caught her and gently laid her down on the floor. Her face was completely pale, even her lips were the color of ashes. All of the movement from dodging had exacerbated her wound.

"Don't worry… I'll get you fixed up in no time." Jin said softly, placing his hands over the wound. His hands glowed as the healing spell began.

Finley looked out the window at the position of the sun. "Should be time." He then opened the door to the room and the rest of his group went out into the corridor.

Robin walked slowly, then lingered by the door as the girls made their way to the stairs. Once they were out of sight, he turned to Finley. "Before… when Chloe said that the fyggs were not meant to be eaten by mortals… and that they have terrible side effects… Is that indeed true?" Robin's face was strained and pale.

"More or less… Why?" Finley asked, eyeing Robin carefully.

Robin took a deep breath and looked Finley in the eyes. "My apologies, but I found a golden fygg a while back. I did not tell you because I had dire need of its magic."

Finley didn't look surprised. "To heal that girl in your hometown?"

Robin's face regained a little bit of coloring, a dusting of pink. "Yes, but it healed her. That is the news I received after delivering it to her home. So, is it not possible that the fruit has no ill effects?"

"The fyggs grant the desire of whoever eats them. If the desire is tainted with corruption, then the corruption will infect the outcome like poison." Finley replied.

"There is no corruption in her… So she will be fine?" Robin asked, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"No one is without corruption. The desire to survive can be as tainted as any other, so we can't be certain. Let's get the girls and make sure that girl has turned into anything."

The hope disappeared from Robin's eyes. "But, what about the Abbott's fygg? Won't that Celestrian get it?"

"Yes, but the Celestrians need all of them. One won't matter."

There was a sudden shriek from the floor above them. They ran up the stairs at full speed to find a mimic, a monster that replicates the appearance of a treasure chest, latched onto Gina's arm. Robin drew his sword and wedged it between the mimic's jaws. He then used his sword as a lever to pry open its mouth and rescue his companion.

When Finley and Robin had left to help Gina, a crow that had been sitting on a nearby windowsill flew down from the tower. The crow landed at the base of the tower and perched on the arm of the thief girl Jin encountered in the Abbey.

"Ah, Yume… Tell me, what did you hear?" She said as she gently stroked the crow's feathers.

Yume cawed, then did a perfect imitation of everything that Finley and his group had said while hiding in the room.

A sly grin crossed the thief's face. "So, it seems that there is animosity between the two groups. I can use that to my advantage. Excellent work, Yume. Now, I have one more task for you…"

Jin came into focus as Adelle opened her eyes. The color had returned to her face and the pain from her stomach had vanished. She slowly sat up with Jin's help. She looked over at the battle Matt and Caitlin were caught up in.

"Jin, how long was I unconscious?" She asked, noticing the fatigue in Matt and Caitlin.

"Ten… maybe fifteen minutes." He answered. "Organ damage is difficult to heal."

Adelle slowly nodded, her gaze never leaving the fight. The Master of Nu'un brought a burst of lightning down upon Matt and Caitlin just as he had earlier. Caitlin dove to the side, narrowly missing getting struck. Matt, however, with a surge of courage, ran straight for the master, the flames from his sword whipping about furiously. The Master of Nu'un threw a punch. Matt only diverted course slightly, just enough for the hit to miss its original mark. The spike tore through Matt's chainmail and pierced the top of his left shoulder. Matt let out an agonized cry, but the attack did not slow his charge. He brought his sword down upon the Master of Nu'un, slashing into him with all of his might. The Master of Nu'un's scales split open and a burst of dark energy came from him.

"No! My power! My power!" The master cried out, collapsing to the ground as the darkness dispersed.

Once all of the darkness had dissipated, he transformed back into his normal form. After about a minute, the Abbot got to his feet and looked around, confused, but unscathed.

"What… happened…?" The Abbot asked, still dazed.

Matt clutched his injured shoulder, his left arm dangling uselessly by his side. He explained to the Abbot what had just occurred while Jin worked his healing magic on Matt's shoulder. The Abbot listened solemnly to what Matt told him.

"I see… So, I was consumed by darkness… It seems that I am corruptible. Shameful." The Abbot muttered disgustedly. He then looked at Matt and Adelle. "I… am terribly sorry for the injuries I caused you."

Adelle gave him a comforting smile and laughed. "Don't worry, in my line of work, I am expected to be hole-y."

Caitlin smacked the back of her head. "Leave the morbid puns to Stella!"

Matt chuckled. "Well, at least that battle proved that Adelle had guts."

Caitlin then smacked Matt's head twice for good measure. "You're worse than she is!"

Jin was about to open his mouth to continue this terrible line of puns, but quickly snapped his jaw shut as soon as he caught the deadly glare Caitlin was giving him. He diverted his gaze and whistled innocently.

A faint smile crossed the Abbot's face as he realized that they were alright and bore no grudge against him. "Now, perhaps we should return to the abbey. I can aid your travels better from there."

With that, he left the room and returned to the top of the tower. The others were about to follow him when a glimmering, golden object caught their attention. Laying in the middle of the room was a golden fygg. Adelle picked it up and examined it. Her eyes lit up once she saw that it was authentic.

Stella fluttered next to her. "Well, well, well… Who woulda thunk a fruit could turn a mild-mannered reporter- er, Abbot, into something like that? Gives me the jeebie-heebies just imagining what it'd do to anyone else."

Adelle nearly jumped out of her skin. "Stella?! Where have you been!?"

"I was hiding- I mean – cheering you on from a safe nook…" Stella replied casually. "Well, let's not keep the old fart waiting."

Once Jin finished healing Matt's shoulder, the group left the room to join the Abbot at the top of the tower. As soon as they stepped onto the roof, a black blur flew toward the fygg in Adelle's arms. With lightning-fast reflexes, Jin swatted the blur with his halberd, smashing it into the stone roof. His eyes narrowed as he recognized what it was.

"What the?! What's a crow doing all the way up here?!" Caitlin said, nudging the bird with her foot.

The cawed menacingly and snapped at her foot before taking to the air again. It flew over the group and relayed a message to them in a voice that perfectly matched that of the thief girl. "You beat me to the tower, Thief King, but the other golden treasures shall be mine. I do not recommend standing in my way unless you wish harm to befall your little companions."

Jin spewed forth a stream of vile profanity and swung his halberd at the crow until it dove down from the roof towards the woods at the base of the tower. He leaned over the edge and shouted at the top of his lungs. "KIKA! IF I EVER SEE YOU OR YOUR **** LITTLE **** OF A BIRD, I ******* SWEAR TO THE ALMIGHTY THAT I'LL –" A list of rather horrifying deeds ensued.

The Abbot raised an eyebrow. "Jin, I see your new vocation is going well." His voice dripped with sarcasm.

Jin blinked and turned to look at the Abbot. A sheepish look spread across his face and he rubbed the back of his neck. "I am sorry, Sir… I… am still new to the whole 'priest' thing…"

The Abbot laughed and patted Jin's back. "Don't worry. This is still an improvement from when you first came to Alltrades asking for a new vocation. Now, let's head back."

The Abbot started down the stairs, but was stopped by Matt. Matt looked into the Abbot's eyes. "Abbot Jack, I have a request to ask of you."

The Abbot tilted his head slightly. "Yes? What is it, lad?"

"When we return to the Abbey, will you change my vocation?" Matt asked seriously.

Abbot Jack seemed stunned for a moment, before nodding his assent. "If that is what you wish, then it shall be done."

Matt nodded and headed down the stairs, closely followed by Jack. Matt's companions stared at the back of his head in complete shock as he disappeared to the floor below.


End file.
